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Mealey's Patents

  • January 16, 2026

    High Court Agrees To Hear Pharma Entities’ ‘Skinny Label Infringement’ Fight

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 16 granted a bioequivalent pharmaceutical maker’s petition for a writ of certiorari, agreeing to consider its challenge to the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that the petitioner’s “skinny label” generic version of a prescription cardiovascular medication constituted reverse infringement (Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., et al. v. Amarin Pharma, Inc., et al., No. 24-889, U.S. Sup.).

  • January 15, 2026

    Comcast To High Court: Federal Circuit Wrong To Consider Waived Issue

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Comcast Cable Communications LLC tells the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for certiorari that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to vacate a Florida federal judge’s judgment of noninfringement in its favor, arguing that the finding was based on deciding sua sponte a nonjurisdictional issue that was deliberately waived by the patent holder.

  • January 15, 2026

    Federal Circuit Affirms Rejection Of Pet Food Packaging Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Jan. 14 opinion, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) finding that the claims of a pet food company’s packaging container patent application were unpatentable as obvious.

  • January 15, 2026

    Federal Circuit: No Infringement By Apple Of Device Setting Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a short opinion issued Jan. 14, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a California federal judge’s entry of summary judgment of noninfringement to Apple Inc. in a patent infringement suit brought against it by another technology entity, agreeing that Apple’s accused product does not meet claim limitations required under the judge’s unchallenged claim constructions.

  • January 14, 2026

    Federal Circuit: PTAB Failed To Consider Apple’s Obviousness Arguments In IPR

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — While the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) correctly construed a claim phrase requiring bidirectional antennas during inter partes review (IPR) proceedings initiated by Apple Inc., the board erred by failing to address alternate arguments raised by Apple in response to the patent holder’s proposed claim construction, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Jan. 13.

  • January 13, 2026

    PTO Designates 4 Orders On Discretionary Decisions As Precedential

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) designated as precedential four discretionary decisions issued last summer concerning when to approve or deny petitions for inter partes review (IPR) or post-grant review (PGR); among the findings now designated precedential is the advice that petitions from “time-barred parties should proceed only in exceptional circumstances.”

  • January 13, 2026

    PTO Sets 2 More Decisions As Precedential Regarding PTAB Discretion

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) issued two decisions on Jan. 12 that it designated as precedential; both decisions concern the PTO and the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) discretion in granting petitions.

  • January 12, 2026

    Federal Circuit: ITC Rightly Found No Infringement In Importation Investigation

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) was correct to issue a summary determination against a patent holder that accused technology companies of wrongfully importing allegedly infringing two types of network service devices, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Jan. 9.

  • January 09, 2026

    9th Circuit Affirms Judgment For Apple In Apple Watch Heart Rate Tracking Dispute

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 8 affirmed a district court order granting Apple Inc.’s motion for summary judgment on claims that it violated federal antitrust law and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by impairing a competitor’s heart rate tracking app tailored for the Apple Watch to monopolize the market, finding that Apple’s refusal to share algorithm data with third-party app developers was considered a “refusal to deal” and the competitor failed to show an exception to the antitrust principle that there is no duty to deal.

  • January 08, 2026

    Juul Reaches ‘Agreement’ With NJOY Over Disputed Docs In Vape Patent Case

    PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge on Jan. 7 ordered Juul Labs Inc. (JLI), NJOY LLC, Altria Group Inc. and affiliates to file a joint statement under seal “that describes the resolution” of a discovery dispute in a patent lawsuit after JLI said the parties reached “an agreement” relating to allegedly privileged documents JLI “inadvertently” uploaded to a public database, which NJOY described as “evidence of the fraud [JLI] committed to obtain its patents from the Patent Office.”

  • January 08, 2026

    PTAB’s Invalidation Of Memory Correction Patent Affirmed By Federal Circuit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Substantial evidence supported a finding by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that certain claims in a patent describing a system for error correction in flash memory devices were invalid as obvious, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held in a nonprecedential Jan. 7 opinion.

  • January 08, 2026

    Federal Circuit Orders New Trial On Obviousness For Parking Lot Camera Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 7 largely affirmed findings by a California federal judge and a federal jury that a patent-owning technology company failed to show that a defendant entity directly infringed a patent describing camera-assisted parking management technology; however, the panel ordered a new trial on the on-sale bar and a federal unfair competition claim.

  • January 07, 2026

    Judge Rightly Found Data Patent Claims Abstract, Federal Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A California federal judge was correct to find that two claims in a patent describing systems for decoding wireless transmissions are invalid as abstract, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Jan. 6, holding that the claims point only to abstract ideas without the necessary inventive element to make them patent eligible.

  • January 06, 2026

    Judge Grants Summary Judgment To HDMI Licenser In IP Row With Component Maker

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge granted HDMI Licensing Administrator Inc.’s (HDMI LA) motion for summary judgment on a breach of contract claim it brought against a technology company it said failed to pay royalties related to HDMI technology; the judge also held that the defendant entity failed to show that HDMI LA’s licensing agreement violated antitrust, patent or trademark law.

  • January 05, 2026

    Federal Circuit: No Error In Invalidation Of Internet Phone Patent Claims

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel saw no legal or factual errors in the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) affirmation of a patent examiner’s finding that all challenged claims in an internet telephone patent were unpatentable as obvious, seeing no error in how PTAB construed “telephone” or other elements.

  • January 05, 2026

    ‘Spout’ Construction Rightly Led To No Infringement Finding, Federal Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an Illinois federal judge’s decision to grant summary judgment of noninfringement in favor of SC Johnson & Son Inc. (SCJ), agreeing with the judge that SCJ’s accused Ziploc reusable silicone container products lacked a “spout” required by the plaintiff-appellant’s patent claims.

  • December 30, 2025

    Federal Circuit Says It Can’t Consider PTAB Decision To Reinstitute IPRs

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed findings of the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that all challenged claims in a series of inter partes review (IPR) proceedings concerning a fuel system aiming to reduce engine knocking were unpatentable as obvious.

  • December 30, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB’s Reading Of ‘Decode’ In Flash Memory Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) decision to uphold some challenged claims in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings for a patent describing a system of error correction in flash memory; the panel held that PTAB correctly construed disputed claim phrases “decode” and “decoder.”

  • December 19, 2025

    Federal Circuit Says It Lacks Jurisdiction To Consider Idaho Bad Faith Patent Bond

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 18 dismissed for lack of jurisdiction a challenge to an Idaho federal judge’s decisions denying semiconductor manufacturing appellant entities’ motions to dismiss and imposing an $8 million bond under a state law targeting bad faith patent infringement, finding that the decisions were not appealable interlocutory orders.

  • December 18, 2025

    Split Federal Circuit Orders New Car Seat Patent Willful Infringement Trial

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A partly split Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 17 reversed a Delaware federal judge’s ruling that a defendant-appellant car seat manufacturer infringed a patent describing a convertible car seat product and ordered a new trial on willful infringement because the judge abused discretion in excluding an email chain that allegedly contained evidence of willful infringement.

  • December 17, 2025

    Supreme Court Won’t Consider Plaintiffs’ Sanctions In Tape Patent Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied an inventor and his company’s petition for a writ of certiorari and will not consider whether the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred in affirming an Ohio federal judge’s entry of sanctions against the petitioners.

  • December 17, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of P2P Patent Complaint In 2nd Appeal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 16 affirmed a California federal judge’s dismissal of a technology company’s patent infringement suit against a competitor, agreeing that the plaintiff-appellant failed to show that the accused peer-to-peer (P2P) video streaming product met a required claim limitation.

  • December 16, 2025

    Federal Circuit Agrees Vascular Port Patent Claims Invalid As Anticipated

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 15 affirmed a Delaware federal judge’s decision to grant judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) to a defendant entity in a dispute over patents describing a vascular access port product, finding that the judge properly determined that the claims at issue were anticipated by prior art references.

  • December 15, 2025

    High Court Rejects ‘After-Arising Technology’ Challenge To Entresto Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 15 rejected a generic drugmaker’s petition for a writ of certiorari, leaving in place a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that a Delaware federal judge erred in holding that claims in a Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp. patent covering the Novartis heart failure drug were not properly enabled.

  • December 15, 2025

    RFID Patent Claims Invalid As Obvious, Federal Circuit Agrees With PTAB

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 12 affirmed a series of inter partes review (IPR) findings of the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB); the panel held that substantial evidence supported PTAB’s findings that all challenged claims in patents describing radio-frequency identification (RFID) technologies in various systems are unpatentable as obvious.