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Mealey's Patents

  • August 29, 2025

    Federal Circuit: Judge Wrongly Applied Prosecution Laches In Speaker Patent Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In mixed results for both parties, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 28 held that a California federal judge wrongly invalidated claims in some of a speaker company’s patents in a dispute with Google LLC and improperly applied prosecution laches, while also holding that the judge correctly invalidated claims in another one of the speaker company’s patents.

  • August 28, 2025

    Med Maker To High Court: Federal Circuit Created After-Arising Tech Loophole

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — MSN Pharmaceuticals and multiple related entities (MSN) tell the U.S. Supreme Court that it must step in to clarify the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ approach to the disclosure of “after-arising technology,” arguing that the appeals court split its own law regarding when it can be considered while ruling on a dispute over the validity of patents related to the heart medication drug Entresto.

  • August 28, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB Findings In First Look At Post-AIA Derivation

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals considered for the first time a derivation proceeding that was filed pursuant to the 2011 Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), which allows “a first-inventor second-filer to pursue such a claim against a first-filer,” finding that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) had substantial evidence to support its judgment in favor of a defendant-appellee in a dispute over the inventorship of an ointment for wound treatments.

  • August 28, 2025

    PNC Bank Tells High Court USAA Can’t Show IPR Finding Was Arbitrary

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an Aug. 27 brief in opposition to United Services Automobile Association’s (USAA) petition for a writ of certiorari, PNC Bank NA says that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals did not err when it affirmed the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) decision to invalidate USAA’s mobile banking patents, brushing aside USAA’s contention that PTAB arbitrarily rendered opposing decisions on its patents in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings sought by different IPR petitioners.

  • August 26, 2025

    Judge Finds No Violation Of Patent Injunction, Denies Contempt Motion

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware on Aug. 25 denied a plaintiff manufacturer’s motion to hold a defendant manufacturer in contempt of a permanent injunction barring the defendant from further infringement of a patent related to bamboo decking, finding that the defendant’s new versions of its products are “colorably different” from the infringing versions.

  • August 26, 2025

    More Discovery Briefing Ordered In Human Serum Albumin Infringement Fight

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A federal magistrate in Kansas found that three related biopharmaceutical entities in a patent infringement dispute over the production of plant-derived recombinant human serum albumin (rHSA) must make supplemental responses to requests from another biopharmaceutical entity for certain discovery documents, holding that their objection to the motion to compel could not be squared with their claim to have supplied all responsive documents.

  • August 26, 2025

    Federal Circuit Denies Mudflap Patent Owner’s Motion To Recall 2023 Mandate

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Aug. 25 that it would not explain its denial of a pro se patent owner’s motion to recall a mandate issued after a panel affirmed a Michigan federal judge’s finding that the man was not entitled to injunctive relief in a patent dispute over mud flaps for vehicles; the patent owner told the Federal Circuit that the affirmation was based on fraud on the court by the plaintiff company in the form of obfuscating details about the company’s ownership.

  • August 20, 2025

    COMMENTARY: A Survey Of State Laws Regulating Third-Party Litigation Funding

    By Mark A. Behrens and Christopher E. Appel

  • August 25, 2025

    Federal Circuit: No Error In ITC’s Infringement Finding In Robotics Patent Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 22 affirmed findings of the International Trade Commission (ITC), holding that it saw no error in the ITC’s construction of claims when considering allegations that a robotics company infringed patents by manufacturing and importing robotic products.

  • August 22, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms Contempt Denial For Tennis Association In Patent Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A New York federal judge was correct to refuse to hold the United States Tennis Association Inc. (USTA) in contempt of a temporary restraining order (TRO) in a patent dispute involving let detection systems used at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Aug. 21.

  • August 22, 2025

    Judge: No Patent Infringement, Harm From False Claims In Chemical Row

    BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland found after a bench trial that plaintiff chemical makers failed to prove literal infringement on the part of W.R. Grace & Co.-Conn. because they did not show that each of Grace’s accused catalyst particles met the requirements of the asserted patent’s claims.

  • August 21, 2025

    Federal Circuit: 1993 Amphibious Vehicle Sale Invalidates Patent Claims

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Louisiana federal judge’s finding in an infringement dispute that all asserted claims of a patent describing an amphibious vehicle for dredging were unpatentable as anticipated.

  • August 20, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB’s Invalidation Of Glucose Monitor Patent Claims

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 19 affirmed a decision from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) invalidating all challenged claims in a patent related to a glucose sensor for monitoring blood sugar levels, finding no error in PTAB’s prior art analysis.

  • August 18, 2025

    PTAB Right To Invalidate Data Download Patent, Federal Circuit Holds

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a finding by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) invalidating all claims of a patent related to data downloads in an inter partes review (IPR) sought by Apple Inc., agreeing with arguments made by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) as an intervenor after Apple withdrew from the appeal.

  • August 15, 2025

    Federal Circuit Revives Haptic Patent Suit Against Apple After Judgment

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel vacated a California federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in Apple Inc.’s favor on infringement allegations regarding patents for haptic feedback on devices, finding that the judge abused his discretion by striking the patent owner’s expert testimony and erred by importing narrowing claim limitations not supported by the evidence.

  • August 15, 2025

    USAA Tells High Court Federal Circuit Affirmed Arbitrary IPR Ruling

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) tells the U.S. Supreme Court that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals wrongly affirmed the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) finding that its mobile banking patents are invalid; USAA argues in its petition for a writ of certiorari that PTAB acted arbitrarily given opposite decisions regarding its patents on materially similar issues in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings sought by different petitioners.

  • August 14, 2025

    Federal Circuit Reverses Jury’s Infringement Finding In DNA Sequencing Kit Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 13 reversed a Delaware federal jury’s finding that a genetic sequencing kit-maker infringed a competitor’s patents and owed $4.7 million in damages; the panel held that no reasonable jury could have found that the accused product met multiple specifications of the patents at issue.

  • August 14, 2025

    Texas Federal Judge Rejects Fees For Microsoft After Patent Judgment

    AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge in Texas denied Microsoft Corp.’s motion for attorney fees in a patent infringement suit filed against it, despite a federal magistrate judge’s recommendation that Microsoft’s motion be partially granted; the judge disagreed with the magistrate judge’s assessment that the plaintiff company’s post-discovery conduct did not justify finding that the case was “exceptional.”

  • August 13, 2025

    E-Cig Maker To High Court: Federal Circuit Gets Patent Damages Wrong

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Electronic cigarette maker R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. (RJR) tells the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ affirmation of a jury’s award of more than $95 million in damages for infringing on another company’s tobacco pod technology conflicts with Supreme Court precedent on the apportionment of damages in patent infringement cases.

  • August 12, 2025

    Federal Circuit Revives Dumbbell Patent Row, Reversing Invalidity

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Aug. 11 that a federal judge in Utah was wrong to find that a patent was directed to an abstract idea, conflating a “rather simple mechanical invention” for stacking dumbbells with the kind of computerized automation that is often unpatentable as abstract.

  • August 12, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB’s Invalidation Of Bone Plate Patent Claims

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) correctly invalidated all challenged claims in two related inter partes review (IPR) proceedings, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, affirming PTAB’s finding that the claims in the patents relate to bone plates for certain types of foot surgery.

  • August 11, 2025

    Federal Circuit Reverses Jury’s Finding That LG Infringed Display Unit Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 8 reversed a New Jersey federal jury’s finding of willful infringement, holding that LG Electronics Inc. and a related entity successfully showed that two claims of the patent at issue were invalid for lack of an adequate written description because the patent’s specification does not claim possession of a disputed claim limitation.

  • August 08, 2025

    Federal Circuit: PTAB’s Reasoning Not Specific Enough In X-Ray Security IPR

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Aug. 7 that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not adequately explain its finding that a patent related to an X-ray system for scanning cargo containers was rendered anticipated and obvious by prior art references, vacating and remanding for further proceedings.

  • August 06, 2025

    Federal Circuit Largely OKs Rejection Of Petitioner’s Arguments In Electrical IPRs

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Aug. 5 that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not fully consider an inter partes review (IPR) petitioner’s obviousness arguments due to an incorrect analysis of a prior art combination in a patent dispute involving an electrical safety device.

  • August 05, 2025

    PTAB’s Constructions Right In Network Speed IPRs, Federal Circuit Holds

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed eight inter partes review (IPR) decisions made by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), holding that substantial evidence supported the board’s constructions of disputed claim terms in its consideration of patents describing a system for improving network communication speed.