Verifying what was already suspected to be the case “does not give rise to a patentable invention” The Federal Circuit yesterday issued a split opinion dealing with contributory infringement and post-KSR obviousness. The case involved two patents regarding hematopoietic stem cells collected from blood in the umbilical cord after the birth of a child. Such cells have shown promise in the treatment of blood-related disorders. The Federal Circuit held that the patents […] Continue Reading →
Seventh Circuit: no evidence of use of “Stealth” mark, cancellation affirmed In a ruling today, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the cancellation of one of Leo Stoller's many "STEALTH" registrations (owned by one of his companies) for lack of use. The registration in question for "baseball bats, softball bats, and t-ball bats," was the basis for a suit brought against baseball hall of famer George Brett and […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit affirms findings of patent and copyright noninfringement In a recent decision the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment of noninfringement on one count of patent infringement and two counts of copyright infringement. The Federal Circuit also upheld the district court's denial of the plaintiff's Rule 60(b) motion seeking vacatur of the summary judgments. More details of Hutchins v. […] Continue Reading →
Equivalent can be “foreseeable” and thus barred under Festo even when equivalence unknown in the art Today, the Federal Circuit rendered the latest decision in the nearly 20 year saga of Festo. The court refined the rules set forth by the Supreme Court in its Festo decision, specifically when an equivalent is unforeseeable, and thus not barred by prosecution history estoppel. The majority of the panel held that: an alternative is […] Continue Reading →
Examples in specification, file history implicitly redefine claim term; infringement affirmed In a second case before the Federal Circuit in just over a month, competing avionics manufacturers Honeywell and Universal Avionics Systems were parties to a decision, this time with Honeywell coming out on top. The court affirmed the district court's claim construction of several terms in Honeywell's patent, which resulted in the court affirming the […] Continue Reading →
Supreme Court: vertical retail price maintenance no longer per se violation of antitrust law Overruling a nearly century old decision, the Supreme Court Thursday held that a manufacturer may, in some instances, enter into a vertical agreement with its retailers to set minimum retail prices for the manufacturer's goods. The court overruled the venerable decision in Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D. Park & Sons Co., 220 U.S. […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit: test for obviousness of structurally similar compounds is unchanged post-KSR At the Federal Circuit, it appears that everything old is new again. In a case applying the new obviousness framework from KSR to structurally similar chemical compounds, the court affirmed a district court decision that claimed compounds would not have been obvious in light of the prior art. The court lauded the district court's "extensive […] Continue Reading →
Ninth Circuit: No confusion likely between competing energy drinks, preliminary injunction vacated In a decision today, the Ninth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit over the trade dress of two competing energy drinks. The court held the district court's conclusion that success was likely on the merits was clearly erroneous, largely because of the dissimilarity of the two trade dresses. Hansen produces the Monster line […] 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 approves MPEP guidelines for written description rejections The Federal Circuit addressed the standard applied by the USPTO for establishing a prima facie case of failure to meet the written description requirement in Hyatt v. Dudas today. The court found that compliance with MPEP § 2163.04(I)(B), by pointing out the nonexistence of support in the specification and identifying the claim limitation(s) at issue, […] Continue Reading →