Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Patents

  • March 27, 2026

    Federal Circuit: Patent Plaintiff Can’t Refile Suit To Avoid ITC Deadline

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held on March 26 that a biopharmaceutical company cannot circumvent missing a 30-day deadline to seek a mandatory stay of a declaratory judgment patent suit it brought under statutes governing the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) by dismissing and then refiling its complaint.

  • March 26, 2026

    Judge Again Finds Patent Claims Against Sirius XM Estopped

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge ruled after a bench trial that Sirius XM Radio Inc. (SXM) reasonably relied on silence from a German research entity to believe it would not bring claims regarding its patents covering satellite radio technology; a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel determined last year that the silence was misleading.

  • March 26, 2026

    Company To High Court: Federal Circuit Used Wrong Standard For Sanctions

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent-holding company is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming more than $250,000 in attorney fees and other sanctions for filing a patent infringement suit against Google LLC that a California federal judge dismissed as frivolous; the technology company argues that the Federal Circuit affirmed the sanctions under the incorrect standard.

  • March 26, 2026

    Biotech Company To Federal Circuit: Rehearing Needed For DNA Eligibility

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The maker of a gene therapy product is seeking en banc rehearing of a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals finding that a Delaware federal judge wrongly concluded that a patent’s claims involving genetically engineered cultured host cells containing a recombinant nucleic acid molecule were directed to a natural phenomenon; the petitioner tells the Federal Circuit that its opinion creates a sweeping rule regarding the patentability of creation that stems from natural DNA.

  • March 25, 2026

    Federal Circuit Rejects Bid To Rethink Claims Nintendo Infringed Handheld Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected a gaming company’s petition for rehearing en banc or panel rehearing, leaving in place a panel’s January opinion that held that Nintendo Co. Ltd. does not infringe the plaintiff-appellant’s patent.

  • March 24, 2026

    High Court Won’t Consider Federal Circuit-Affirmed Sanctions In IP Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 23 rejected a patent-holding company’s request that it consider the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ affirmance of a Florida federal judge’s entry of sanctions against it in a false advertising and unfair competition dispute.

  • March 23, 2026

    High Court Allows Government Participation In ‘Skinny-Label’ Patent Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 23 granted the U.S. government’s motion to participate in oral arguments when it considers the standard for the inducement of infringement to be applied in medical patent cases, including in “skinny label cases” involving allegedly noninfringing use; on March 20, the patent-holding biopharmaceutical entities filed their merits brief, arguing that statements made by a bioequivalent maker plausibly allege induced infringement.

  • March 23, 2026

    Panel: Judge Wrongly Construed Claims, Rightly Excluded Expert In Patent Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found errors in a Maryland federal judge’s construction of disputed patent claims in a suit over patents covering atomizers for particulate paints, which led the panel in its March 20 opinion to reverse the judge’s grant of summary judgment of noninfringement in the defendant-appellee’s favor.

  • March 20, 2026

    Federal Circuit Sees No Error In ITC Finding That Apple Watches Infringe Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) did not err when it held that Apple Inc. violated the Tariff Act by importing and selling Apple Watch models that infringed blood oxygenation patents held by other technology entities, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held March 19.

  • March 20, 2026

    ITC: Patent Invalidity Means No Violation Through Vape Product Imports

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) reversed a finding from an administrative law judge (ALJ) that certain tobacco product entities violated federal importation laws by importing vaping products that infringed a patent held by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. and related entities; the ITC determined that there was no violation because multiple claims of the patent at issue are invalid as obvious.

  • March 17, 2026

    Company Lacked Standing To Initiate Patent Claims, Federal Circuit Agrees

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A technology company lacked constitutional standing to bring patent infringement claims against another technology company because a 2006 agreement transferred all rights associated with the patents at issue to a third party, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held March 16 in agreeing with a Nevada federal judge.

  • March 16, 2026

    Judge Finds Claims In Video Conference Patent Invalid As Abstract

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois dismissed a video conferencing company’s patent infringement complaint against another technology company, holding that the asserted patent claims were invalid as abstract because they were directed at the abstract concept of verifying a user’s identity and relaying the identification information elsewhere.

  • March 13, 2026

    Amicus IP Group To High Court: No Bright-Line Rules For ‘Skinny Label’ Cases

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an amicus curiae brief filed in support of neither party, the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) told the U.S. Supreme Court that the standard for inducement of infringement should be applied universally in patent cases, including in “skinny label” cases involving an allegedly noninfringing use; IPO tells the high court that the petitioner bioequivalent pharmaceutical maker appears to be advocating for multiple “bright-line” rules that should not be applied.

  • March 13, 2026

    Federal Circuit Vacates Abstractness, Reverses Sanctions Against IP Law Firm

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a pair of opinions, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel vacated a judgment of infringement against the makers of the Norton antivirus software, holding that a Virginia federal judge wrongly held that the patents at issue are not directed at an abstract idea; the panel also reversed the judge’s entry of sanctions against the software company’s counsel at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP for failing to comply with an order compelling it to disclose allegedly privileged information it received from a former employee of the software company the firm also represented.

  • March 13, 2026

    Partly Split Federal Circuit Affirms Rejection Of Apple-Initiated IPR

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A partly split Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel agreed with the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that Apple Inc. had failed to prove a motivation to combine certain prior art references or that another combination had a reasonable likelihood of being successful in the latest appeal involving another technology company.

  • March 12, 2026

    Federal Circuit: Lack Of Algorithm Didn’t Make Patent Claim Indefinite

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 11 reversed an Iowa federal judge’s finding that claims of a patent describing a type of crop harvesting tool were invalid as indefinite; the panel held that the patent specification’s reference to a commercially available controller with logic circuitry constituted sufficient corresponding structure without the disclosure of an algorithm.

  • March 11, 2026

    Texas Federal Judge Wrongly Excluded Damages Expert, Federal Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a Texas federal judge’s decision to exclude a plaintiff technology company’s expert on damages and vacated the judge’s grant of summary judgment for absence of remedy in Microsoft Corp.’s favor on infringement claims involving patents describing a method for communication between virtual networks.

  • March 11, 2026

    Federal Circuit: PTAB Right To Uphold Examiner’s Obviousness Finding

    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 a pending claim in an application for a patent on a type of cleated shoe was invalid as obvious per a combination of prior art references.

  • March 10, 2026

    Appellant Forfeited New Antedating Argument Before PTAB, Federal Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 9 affirmed final written decisions by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), holding that the board did not abuse its discretion when it held that a technology company forfeited a new antedating argument during inter partes review (IPR) proceedings.

  • March 09, 2026

    High Court Won’t Hear Claim That Federal Circuit Expanded Scope Of IPR

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 9 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari in which a technology company argued that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals expanded the scope of inter partes review (IPR) to include consideration of an “abandoned patent application” when affirming findings by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

  • March 09, 2026

    Drilling Company Didn’t Show Trademark Claims Are Time-Barred, Judge Rules

    OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma federal judge rejected a defendant oil and natural gas company’s contention that a trademark suit against it was premised on time-barred claims; the judge held that further factual development was required to determine whether the doctrine of laches applied.

  • March 05, 2026

    Attorney Says Faulty Quotes Not AI’s Fault In Valve Patent Troll Trial

    SEATTLE — An attorney for a man accused by Valve Corp. of being a “patent troll” responded to a Washington federal judge’s order to show cause, arguing that fake quotations were caused by the error of a contract attorney; on the same day, the judge entered $11,500 in attorney fees against the defense for fees incurred during a discovery dispute before a recently completed trial.

  • March 04, 2026

    Federal Circuit Partly Reverses PTAB Ruling On 3D Imaging Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel delivered a mixed opinion on March 3 in a dispute over a patent that concerns the use of 3D modeling of patient data on augmented reality (AR) headsets, affirming the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) decision to reject the appellant’s anticipation arguments but reversing the rejection of obviousness arguments.

  • March 03, 2026

    Federal Circuit: Factual Questions Remain In Patent Monopolization Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that genuine questions of material fact persist in a dispute over whether a plaintiff cross-appellant’s claims that another entity was attempting to monopolize the market for a type of steel tubing through fraudulently obtained patents, leading to the vacating of both a Texas federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in the defendant entities’ favor and a finding in the plaintiff’s favor that the defendants had acted inequitably.

  • February 27, 2026

    U.S. Government Moves To Participate In ‘Skinny Label’ High Court Arguments

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States government on Feb. 25 filed a motion to participate in oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court when it considers arguments from a bioequivalent pharmaceutical maker that a patent holder’s complaint failed to state a claim for induced infringement because the “skinny label” generic version of the patent carved out the patented cardiovascular use of the drug; the government’s motion was filed a day after it filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the petitioner entity.