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Mealey's Patents

  • July 11, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms Invalidity Of Smart HVAC System Patent Claims

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a pair of opinions, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed decisions by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that invalidated patents related to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) held by EcoFactor Inc. in a series of inter partes review (IPR) proceedings brought by Google LLC, in the latest step in the battle between the companies over smart thermostat technologies.

  • July 10, 2025

    Federal Circuit Again Finds For Janssen On Mental Health Drug Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a New Jersey federal judge’s finding that two appellant medicine makers failed to show that claims in a patent related to dosing regimens for an injectable schizophrenia treatment were invalid as obvious, holding that it saw no error in the judge’s analysis of the motivation to combine prior art references.

  • July 09, 2025

    Device Maker Tells High Court Shortened Discovery Timeline Tainted Patent Trial

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A medical product company tells the U.S. Supreme Court that a North Carolina federal court violated its due process rights by changing both the time to trial and the time for discovery in a patent infringement case for which the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has already ordered a new trial.

  • July 08, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms Cisco’s Noninfringement Of Server Management Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 7 affirmed a Massachusetts federal judge’s grant of summary judgment of noninfringement on some patent counts and a jury’s verdict of noninfringement on others, agreeing that Egenera Inc. failed to show that Cisco Systems Inc. infringed a patent on a server management system.

  • July 03, 2025

    Dismissal Stipulated In Coverage Dispute Over Loss Of Patent Litigation Counsel

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An inventor, his Colorado-based company and a captive insurer filed a joint stipulation of dismissal in a Tennessee federal court, resolving and dismissing with prejudice all claims asserted in a case concerning a coverage dispute over loss of patent litigation counsel.

  • July 02, 2025

    High Court Rejects Micron’s Mandamus Bid To Protect Source Code

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an American chip maker’s request for relief from a California federal judge’s discovery order requiring it to turn its source code over to a Chinese rival in a patent infringement dispute.

  • July 02, 2025

    Federal Circuit Won’t Rehear Induced Infringement Arguments For Generic Drug

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a biopharmaceutical company’s petition for rehearing en banc in a July 1 order, rejecting the company’s contention that an appeals court panel improperly analyzed its intent to encourage practitioners to use its antipsychotic medication in a way that would infringe on another company’s patented injectable medication used to treat schizophrenia.

  • July 02, 2025

    PTAB Claim Construction Error Caused Fact Analysis Errors In Eye Med Patent Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erred while construing a claim phrase during inter partes review (IPR) proceedings regarding an eye redness medication; the panel reversed the PTAB’s claim construction and vacated a finding of obviousness that stemmed from it.

  • July 02, 2025

    Federal Circuit: Can Patent, Mum On Location Of ‘Second Point,’ Invalid

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an Ohio federal judge’s finding that certain claims of a food packaging company’s patents on a type of can for beverages are invalid as indefinite, upholding the judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of other can-making companies.

  • June 19, 2025

    COMMENTARY: Can AI Be Patented? Navigating Patent Subject Matter Eligibility

    By John H. Mutchler

  • July 01, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms Mixed PTAB Findings On Automatic Computing Patents

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a pair of June 30 opinions, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a set of mixed findings from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that held that most, but not all, claims valid in patents describing a method for improving computer processor power for autonomous actions, despite arguments from Amazon.com Inc. and other entities that prior art rendered all claims unpatentable as obvious.

  • July 01, 2025

    Lyft’s Noninfringement Of Tech Patent Claims Affirmed By Federal Circuit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a finding by a California federal judge that Lyft Inc. did not infringe on a technology company’s patents describing a computerized system for diagnosing problems with a vehicle remotely, saying that it saw no issues with the way the judge construed terms in the patents’ claims.

  • June 30, 2025

    Federal Circuit: No Mandamus For Qualcomm, Apple On Patent Suit Transfer Bid

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Texas federal judge did not clearly err when denying requests from Qualcomm Inc. and Apple Inc. to transfer a patent infringement suit against them to a California federal court, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found, denying the companies’ request for a writ of mandamus.

  • June 27, 2025

    Federal Circuit: Judge Reasonably Tossed Patent Claims Against Google

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a California federal judge’s finding that a pro se inventor’s patent infringement allegations against Google LLC failed as a matter of law because they relied on third-party modifications to Google’s product; the panel said the inventor could not point to a prior appellate win involving Apple as preclusive because it involved separate issues.

  • June 26, 2025

    Federal Circuit Says Data ‘Translation’ Patent Abstract Per Alice Test

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel agreed with a California federal judge that a technology company’s data transfer patent is directed at the abstract concept of translation, affirming the judge’s grant of judgment on the pleadings in a June 25 opinion.

  • June 26, 2025

    Federal Circuit Says PTAB Got Obviousness Of Streaming Patent Right

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel rejected a patentholder’s argument that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erred when analyzing the motivation to combine prior art elements during inter partes review (IPR) proceedings concerning a patent related to adaptive bitrate streaming for media services.

  • June 24, 2025

    Federal Circuit: PTAB Erred On ‘Unexpected Results’ In GI Drug Patent Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel vacated a U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision to uphold a drugmaker’s patent on a molecule for use in gastrointestinal disorder medications, finding that the board erred in its analysis of whether the patent holder had shown that its patented product had “unexpected results” when considering whether the patent’s claims were rendered obvious by prior art references.

  • June 23, 2025

    Supreme Court Invites Government Response To Generic Drug Patent Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 23 invited the government to express its views on a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a bioequivalent drug manufacturer that contends that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to reverse a Delaware federal judge’s finding of no induced infringement in a dispute over patents related to a prescription cardiovascular medication.

  • June 20, 2025

    Federal Circuit Can’t Consider Realtek Challenge To ITC Sanctions Denial

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals lacks jurisdiction to consider Realtek Semiconductor Corp.’s appeal of the U.S. International Trade Commission’s denial of requested sanctions in a dispute over the licensing of patented products because the order was not a final determination, a panel in the appeals court held.

  • June 20, 2025

    PTAB Didn’t Consider Some Netflix Invalidity Arguments, Panel Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a finding by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that multiple claims in a technology company’s patent related to streaming video are invalid, but the panel said that PTAB did not fully consider arguments from streaming giant Netflix Inc. on the motivation to combine prior art references.

  • June 19, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB’s Obviousness Finding For Sonos Playback Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 18 rejected arguments from Sonos Inc. that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was wrong to invalidate multiple claims in its patent related to the playback of music on a device controlled by another device, affirming the board’s finding that the patent was obvious as per prior art in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings brought by Google LLC.

  • June 19, 2025

    Xerox’s User Profile Patent Invalid As Obvious, Federal Circuit Affirms

    WASHINGTON, D.C.  — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a finding from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that invalidated all claims in a patent held by Xerox Corp., agreeing with PTAB that Xerox failed to show that the board incorrectly construed a claim term involving the navigation of web pages.

  • June 18, 2025

    High Court Won’t Rethink Denial Of Cert For Patent Damages Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a petition for rehearing from the owner of a trading company whose petition for a writ of certiorari the justices denied in April, leaving in place a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ patent invalidity finding despite what the petitioner characterized as “two key developments.”

  • June 17, 2025

    High Court Won’t Hear Argument That Federal Circuit Imposed Rigid Patent Rule

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 16 rejected a patent-holder’s petition for a writ of certiorari, leaving in place a split Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel’s decision affirming a Delaware federal judge’s grant of judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) in defendant Comcast Cable Communications LLC’s favor on accusations that it infringed on internet-based phone patents.

  • June 12, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms Invalidation Of CRISPR Patents As Anticipated

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 11 said there was no error in the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) finding that all claims of a biotechnology company’s patents on gene modification are invalid; the panel said that substantial evidence supported PTAB’s finding that prior art anticipated the patents.