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Mealey's Patents

  • September 13, 2024

    Judge Dismisses Patent Infringement Claims Against Hulu Over Ad Stream Technology

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge dismissed a suit filed by a media company against streaming service Hulu, alleging patent infringement regarding patents relating to integrating advertising into digital media streams, finding that “[t]he claims are patent ineligible” because they “do not contain an inventive concept.”

  • September 12, 2024

    Nevada Federal Judge Dismisses Invalidity Defense In Dispute Over LED Patents

    LAS VEGAS — The owner of several light-emitting diode (LED) technology patents is entitled to summary judgment on an affirmative defense of invalidity raised by a group of companies accused of infringing upon the patents because the prior art referenced in the defendants’ expert testimony does not quality as prior art in this instance.

  • September 12, 2024

    Federal Circuit: GoPro Not Entitled To Summary Judgment In Camera Patent Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal trial court erred in finding that patents disclosing a portable video camera are directed toward an abstract idea because the patents improve upon previous technology, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held in reversing the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to GoPro Inc.

  • September 12, 2024

    Federal Circuit: Patent Expert Didn’t Need Requisite Skill At Time Of Invention

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An expert was not required to have the requisite level of ordinary skill in 1999 when a 3D modeling system was invented to later testify before a jury about the invention in a patent dispute because the expert sufficiently acquired the requisite skill before testifying, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in ruling that the jury’s verdict of infringement was supported by substantial evidence.

  • September 11, 2024

    Birkenstock’s Design Patent And Trade Dress Infringement Claims Survive Dismissal

    BOSTON — The makers of Birkenstock sandals and clogs plausibly stated all the necessary elements of their claims for patent and trade dress infringement brought against a competitor who allegedly copied their designs by showing that the competitor’s reportedly infringing products are sufficiently similar and have acquired a secondary meaning with the public, a Massachusetts federal judge found in denying the competitor’s motion to dismiss.

  • September 11, 2024

    Federal Magistrate Judge Declines To Stay Discovery In DNA Detection Patent Row

    SAN DIEGO — Two companies that are alleged to have violated patents relating to DNA detection are not entitled to a stay of discovery pending the resolution of their motion for judgment on the pleadings because the motion is not necessarily dispositive of the entire case, a California federal magistrate judge found in denying the two companies’ request.

  • September 11, 2024

    Federal Circuit: Method For Tipping During Media Viewing Is Patent Ineligible

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err in finding that a method and system for eliciting and receiving tips during media consumption was directed at an abstract idea because the idea is simply a method of organizing human economic activity, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming the PTAB’s decision on Sept. 10.

  • September 10, 2024

    Judge Allows Experts’ Opinions On LLMs In Alexa Patent Case

    RICHMOND, Va. — An expert’s opinions on the availability of large language models (LLMs) when Amazon.com first released its Alexa assistant product are admissible, a federal judge in Virginia said in denying three motions to exclude under Daubert in a patent infringement lawsuit.

  • September 06, 2024

    Seat Cushion Patent Claims Dismissed In Calif. Federal Court For Improper Venue

    SAN DIEGO — California federal court is not the proper venue for patent infringement claims relating to inflatable seat cushions because the company allegedly infringing on the patents is not located in California and has no regular established placed of business in the state, a California federal judge found in granting the company’s motion to dismiss in part.

  • September 05, 2024

    Federal Circuit Says Television Programming Guide Patent Claims Are Ineligible

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patent claims relating to television programming guides for video-on-demand systems are not patent eligible because they are directed to the abstract idea of analyzing, organizing and displaying data and do nothing to transform the abstract idea into something more, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming a federal trial court’s judgment.

  • September 04, 2024

    Texas Federal Judge Dismisses Some Fastener Patent Claims Without Prejudice

    DALLAS — The assignee of three patents that disclose fastener products for use in construction failed to support its willful patent infringement and induced patent infringement claims against a competitor with sufficient factual allegations, a Texas federal judge found in granting the competitor’s motion to dismiss in part without prejudice.

  • September 03, 2024

    Federal Judge Orders Patent Attorneys To Show Why They Shouldn’t Be Sanctioned

    SAN FRANCISCO — Three patent attorneys who have engaged in potential litigation misconduct were ordered by a California federal judge to show cause why they should not be sanctioned for, among other things, failing to seek pro hac vice status, failing to diligently investigate their clients’ claims before filing complaints and failing to sign court filings.

  • August 20, 2024

    COMMENTARY: You Can’t Spell Claim Construction Without AI

    By Jonah Mitchell and Charlie Rieder

  • August 29, 2024

    Wisconsin Federal Judge Dismisses Bulk Of Claims In Dispute Over Gardening Tools

    MADISON, Wisc. — The owner of two design patents that describe ornamental gardening tools is not entitled to summary judgment on its patent infringement claims because it failed to show that allegedly infringing products made by a competitor were sufficiently similar to its products, a Wisconsin federal judge found in disposing of motions for summary judgment filed by both parties.

  • August 28, 2024

    Dispute Over FCA Public Disclosure Bar Distributed For Conference In Supreme Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 28 distributed for conference a petition for certiorari filed by pharmaceutical companies seeking review of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that the public disclosure bar was not triggered in a case where it reversed a district court’s dismissal of a suit accusing the companies of violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by artificially inflating drug prices.

  • August 28, 2024

    PTAB Panel Affirms Rejection Of Computer Tomography Scanner Application

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent examiner did not err in rejecting a patent application that disclosed a particularly configured computer tomography (CT) scanner because the examiner adequately showed that the claims can be produced by combining several components of prior art, a Patent Trial and Appeal Board held in affirming the examiner’s findings on Aug. 27.

  • August 27, 2024

    Texas Federal Judge Grants And Denies Motions To Dismiss In Data Patent Dispute

    WACO, Texas — In two separate orders filed Aug. 26, a Texas federal judge denied a motion to dismiss a counterclaim for patent invalidity and granted in part a motion to dismiss allegations of willful infringement in a patent infringement case concerning methods, systems and computer program products for processing data.

  • August 27, 2024

    PTAB Panel Affirms Patent Examiner’s Rejection Of Chewing Gum Patents

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent examiner did not err in rejecting an application for patent claims describing a process for reducing the stickiness of a chewing gum core composition because the claims were obvious in light of prior art, a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) panel found in affirming the examiner’s findings.

  • August 27, 2024

    Federal Circuit: Trial Court Wrongly Analyzed Attorney Fees Motion In Patent Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal district court erred in analyzing whether several telecommunications companies that prevailed against patent infringement claims were entitled to attorney fees because it erroneously gave weight to several “red flags” that supposedly made the case exceptional, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held in vacating the trial court’s order granting the companies’ motion for attorney fees.

  • August 23, 2024

    In Exercise Device Patent Row, Federal Circuit Affirms Claim Construction Decision

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal trial court correctly found that a claim within a patent for a personal athletic performance monitor device was indefinite for lack of corresponding structure because the patent’s specification failed to disclose an algorithm for computing athletic performance feedback data, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming the lower court’s judgment in part.

  • August 22, 2024

    In High Court, PTO Director Says Patent Term Adjustment Does Not Affect Validity

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In her Aug. 21 brief in response to a petition for writ of certiorari filed by a tech firm in the U.S. Supreme Court, the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) argues that a patent that had its expiration date extended under patent term adjustment (PTA) due to application delays caused by the PTO is still susceptible to findings of obviousness and invalidity.

  • August 22, 2024

    Mobile User Interface Patent Claim Is Not Indefinite, Federal Circuit Holds

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal trial court erred in finding that the representative claim of a mobile user interface patent was indefinite because the language of the claim and its prosecution history show that the claim can be properly constructed in a way that fits the patent, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in reversing and remanding the trial court’s judgment.

  • August 22, 2024

    Illinois Federal Judge Declines To Vacate $525M Jury Award In Tech Patent Dispute

    CHICAGO — A jury’s award of $525 million for patent infringement claims involving information storage and retrieval patents was supported by sufficient evidence and should not be vacated, an Illinois federal judge found in denying Amazon’s motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) and its motion for a new trial.

  • August 22, 2024

    Enactment Of AIA Did Not Change The On-Sale Bar, Federal Circuit Holds

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress did not intend to change the long-established interpretation of the on-sale bar by enacting the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) because textual changes brought on with the enactment of the AIA text did not materially affect the provision, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming a decision from the U.S. International Trade Commission concerning artificial sweetener patents.

  • August 20, 2024

    Federal Circuit Dismisses Hydrogenated Silicon Patent Appeal For Lack Of Standing

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — There is no live case or controversy regarding hydrogenated silicon patent infringement claims because the patent owner dismissed its claims with prejudice, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in dismissing an appeal of a final written inter partes review decision issued by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.