When market entry fee part of damages for patent infringement, permanent injunction inappropriate In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit affirmed a finding of infringement of a patent relating to the detection and classification of Hepatitis C Virus, but remanded the case for a determination of anticipation. In arguably the most interesting aspect of the decision, the court vacated the permanent injunction entered against the defendant. The plaintiff […] Continue Reading →
Five things not to do when prosecuting patent applications In a decision yesterday, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's judgment of patent unenforceability as a result of inequitable conduct on behalf of the applicant. The court affirmed that five different actions on the part of the patentee constituted inequitable conduct:1. Failure to identify the association between the applicant and the individual providing a […] Continue Reading →
Attorney cannot directly appeal finding of inequitable conduct absent formal sanctions The Federal Circuit today addressed whether a prosecuting attorney who was found to have committed inequitable conduct during an infringement suit of the patent prosecuted may intervene to contest the finding. The court held that when an attorney is merely criticized by the court, not formally reprimanded, they have no standing to appeal. As a […] Continue Reading →
Judge sanctions Qualcomm for concealing over 200,000 pages of documents, providing false testimony It's been a rough week for Qualcomm. On Monday, the Bush administration let stand the ITC ruling barring import of mobile phones using certain Qualcomm chips unless a license fee is paid to Broadcom, a competing company who holds patents covering the power management technology used in the chips. Also Monday, a federal judge in […] Continue Reading →
Invalidity affirmed on double patenting grounds; inequitable conduct finding vacated In the second of two rulings yesterday, the Federal Circuit found the patent on Toprol-XL® (a drug used to treat hypertension, angina, and congestive heart failure) invalid based on obviousness-type double patenting, affirming summary judgment on the issue. The court vacated and remanded the grant of summary judgment of unenforceability due to inequitable conduct, as […] Continue Reading →
“Attorney argument” and late disclosure not enough to support inequitable conduct finding The Federal Circuit issued a ruling yesterday that provides some guidance on the issues of indefiniteness and inequitable conduct. The court held that the term "near" was sufficiently definite for identifying the location of an incision in veterinary surgery, because the meaning could be adduced from the intrinsic evidence. Further, the court held that as […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit affirms inequitable conduct finding, Judge Newman not happy about it In a second opinion today, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's finding of inequitable conduct based on the nondisclosure of three pieces of information to the USPTO. The patentee had two similar pending applications at the USPTO, and in fact had cited the same prior art in both applications via information disclosure statements. In […] Continue Reading →
Inequitable Conduct Found in False Statements and Deception In a case before the Federal Circuit, the District Court’s conclusion that Cantor’s patent was unenforceable due to inequitable conduct was affirmed. The matter before the Court involved a patent for a method and system for trading financial instruments. Specifically, Cantor developed a system that would automate the trading process and avoid the use of […] Continue Reading →
Dippin’ Dots: brought to you by inequitable conduct, but not an antitrust violation What do Dippin' Dots, the little beads of ice cream sold at fairs, stadiums, and malls, have to do with patent and antitrust law? For the Federal Circuit, they presented the "close case" where a patent holder can be found to have engaged in inequitable conduct during prosecution of the patent but is not liable […] Continue Reading →
Federal jury finds H.264 video compression standard does not infringe patent A federal jury in San Diego recently found that Broadcom, a company that produces chips used in everything from mobile phones to next-generation DVD players, does not infringe two patents held by Qualcomm on video compression technology. Why is this finding important? Qualcomm asserted its patents covered the H.264 video compression standard, which is the […] Continue Reading →