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Mealey's Patents

  • January 14, 2025

    Novartis Seeks Immediate Mandate After Drug Patent Invalidity Reversal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A maker of generic drugs on Jan. 13 told the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that it should deny Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.’s motion to expedite the issuance of its mandate, saying the motion comes too soon after the appeals court’s Jan. 10 finding that a district judge was right to reject arguments that a Novartis heart failure drug patent was invalid as obvious but wrong to hold that the claims were invalid for lack of written description.

  • January 14, 2025

    Supreme Court Won’t Hear Roku’s Arguments On Importing Infringing Products

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 decided that it will not consider whether the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) was right to hold that electronics company Roku Inc. failed to show that another company’s telecommunications patent was invalid as obvious, leaving in place an opinion from the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirming the ITC’s findings.

  • January 13, 2025

    Supreme Court Rejects Cert Bid In Patent Safe Harbor Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 decided that it will not hear arguments from a medical device company that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals inappropriately expanded a safe harbor found in the Patent Act in a dispute involving heart valve importation.

  • January 13, 2025

    Broadcom Network Connection Patent Deemed Abstract, Not Infringed By Netflix

    SAN FRANCISCO — In a patent infringement legal dispute between Broadcom Corp. and Netflix Inc. that has been significantly pared down in its almost five-year history, a California federal judge ruled in favor of Netflix by finding two of the remaining patent claims at issue to be directed to an abstract idea, per Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, and thus ineligible for patent protection.

  • January 10, 2025

    Invalidity Of Task Scheduler Patents Affirmed By Federal Circuit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was right to hold that patents related to the scheduling of tasks for a computer’s processor were unpatentable as obvious, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said, finding in favor of Microsoft Corp., which sought inter partes review (IPR) of the patents.

  • January 10, 2025

    Judge: Defendants Don’t Show Invalidity Of Baby Bag Trade Dress, Copyright

    MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida dismissed counterclaims brought by two companies accused of trade dress and copyright infringement by the maker of baby carrier products, holding that the defendant companies failed to show that the plaintiff company’s trade dress or copyright were invalid.

  • January 09, 2025

    Judge Finds Probiotic Infant Product Patent Claims To Be Invalid

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted summary judgment in favor of a defendant biopharmaceutical company accused of infringing on two patents related to probiotic products for infants, holding that the relevant claims of the patents were anticipated by prior art references.

  • January 09, 2025

    Federal Circuit: PTAB Right To Find Some Claims Patentable In Equipment Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err when finding that most of the claims in a patent describing a product for hanging construction equipment were unpatentable while some were not, rejecting an equipment manufacturer’s contention that all claims should have been found to be unpatentable.

  • January 08, 2025

    Split Federal Circuit Panel Reverses PTAB Finding Of Patent Validity

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A split Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a decision of the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) finding that multiple telecommunications companies failed to show that another company’s patent related to information encoding was unpatentable as obvious; the dissenting judge said that the panel should only have vacated PTAB’s holding.

  • January 07, 2025

    Color Of Hip Implants Functional, Not Trademarkable, Federal Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) was correct to cancel trademarks owned by an artificial hip parts manufacturer, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, saying that the pink color of the relevant parts is a functional element referenced in the company’s now-expired patent.

  • January 07, 2025

    Federal Circuit Agrees: DNA Testing Patent Not Shown To Be Obvious

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err when it held that a biopharmaceutical company failed to show that a patent held by another company related to in utero DNA testing is invalid as obvious, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Jan. 6.

  • January 03, 2025

    Judge Right To Find Oxycontin Patents Obvious, Federal Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Delaware did not err in ruling that claims in a series of patents owned by Purdue Pharma LP and related entities directed at changes to the formulation of the company’s Oxycontin drug were invalid, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held.

  • January 03, 2025

    Patent Owner Appeals Unpatentability Finding For File Backup System

    BOSTON — A company that owns a patent directed at a digital file backup process has appealed to the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a Massachusetts federal judge’s November ruling that the central claims of the patent are directed at unpatentable abstract ideas, thus rendering the patent invalid.

  • December 20, 2024

    Judge Finds Laser Patent Suit Sufficiently Pleaded, Denies Dismissal Motion

    BOSTON — The owner of a laser patent adequately alleged infringement for the pleadings stage of litigation, a Massachusetts federal judge found, denying a defendant’s motion to dismiss the second infringement suit between the parties.

  • December 20, 2024

    Judge: Lighting Firm Didn’t Show Chandelier Infringed, Was Offered For Sale

    SEATTLE — Granting an interior design firm’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, a Washington federal judge found that the owner of two design patents in a chandelier did not establish that an alleged knock-off of the lighting fixture infringed the patents or that the defendants engaged in unfair or deceptive behavior.

  • December 20, 2024

    Federal Circuit Affirms Infringement, Damages Findings In E-Cig Patent Fight

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A partially split panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 19 said a federal judge in North Carolina was right to deny judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) to electronic cigarette entity R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. (RJR), affirming a jury’s award of more than $95 million against the company for infringing on another company’s pod-based tobacco vapor technology.

  • December 19, 2024

    Judge Rules Farmer Owes $600K For Infringing On Seed Patent

    ST. LOUIS — A Missouri farmer will be required to pay more than $600,000 in damages to agricultural technology companies for patent infringement and breach of contract after a federal judge in the state granted summary judgment in the company’s favor on their claims that the farmer inappropriately recycled patented genetically modified seeds.

  • December 19, 2024

    Judge: Company’s Ticket Patents Invalid; Complaint Dismissed With Prejudice

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on Dec. 18 issued a final judgment holding that an electronic ticketing company’s patents are invalid, dismissing with prejudice patent infringement claims the company brought against Ticketmaster LLC and Live Nation Worldwide Inc.; the judge had granted the defendant companies’ motion to dismiss the claims in an in-chambers order in November because the patents were directed at patent-ineligible abstract ideas.

  • December 19, 2024

    Virginia Federal Judge Wrongly Held Patents Not Invalid, Federal Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A packaging machine company and a related entity’s patents were rendered invalid by an offer for sale in the United States, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, reversing a Virginia federal judge’s finding of no invalidity in an infringement dispute with another packaging company that led to dueling appeals before the Federal Circuit.

  • December 19, 2024

    Federal Circuit Says Judge Wrongly Denied JMOL In Patent Fight

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Texas federal judge was wrong to deny judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) of no direct infringement to a defendant software company, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said Dec. 18, holding that the judge should have found that the alleged infringement could be attributed to the company’s merchants but not the company itself.

  • December 17, 2024

    Software Company Appeals Finding That Patent Is Directed At Abstract Idea

    SAN FRANCISCO — A plaintiff software company appealed to the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a California federal judge’s finding that three patents it holds related to chart creation software claim patent ineligible subject matter, a day after the judge issued the order.

  • December 17, 2024

    PTAB Did Not Justify Combination Motive Finding In IPR, Federal Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 16 said the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) failed to properly explain one of its holdings at the conclusion of inter partes review (IPR) proceedings involving a patent involving data transmission; the panel vacated the PTAB’s finding that the patent’s claims were not obvious.

  • December 16, 2024

    Intel Didn’t Show Obviousness During Patent Review, Federal Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Affirming Patent Trial and Review Board (PTAB) findings issued after inter partes review (IPR), a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel agreed that the Intel Corp. failed to show that challenged claims in another company’s patent were invalid as obvious.

  • December 12, 2024

    Federal Circuit: No Error In Denying Novartis Injunction To Halt Generic Entresto

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel declined “to second guess” a trial court’s factual findings in denying a preliminary injunction to Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. to halt the release of a generic version of the drug Entresto, finding that there was no “definite and firm conviction that a mistake” occurred.

  • December 12, 2024

    Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB Claim Construction In Security Camera Patent Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) correctly held that multiple challenged claims in a company’s patent regarding a computer’s ability to detect individuals passing in front of a connected camera are unpatentable, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Dec. 11.