The Federal Circuit issued a precedent-setting ruling that clarifies the appropriate roles of judges and juries when a design patent is challenged as obvious. In doing so, the Court strengthened designers’ rights by confirming that, in certain situations, the question of whether a design patent and the prior art are visually the same should be sent to a jury rather than determined by a judge at the summary judgment phase of litigation.
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Federal Circuit Rules That a Jury Must Determine Visual Similarity Between Design Patent and Prior Art as Part of Obviousness Analysis Posted on: April 22, 2020 In: Intellectual Property & Technology
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PTAB Cannot Permit Self-Joinder or Issue-Joinder and POP Statutory Constructions Receive No Deference Posted on: March 25, 2020 In: Intellectual Property & Technology
The Federal Circuit ruled the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) cannot permit a party to join itself as a party to its own existing inter partes review (IPR) petition and cannot permit adding new time-barred issues to an old petition by joinder.
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Supreme Court Agrees to Review Appealability of PTAB Time-Bar Rulings Posted on: June 28, 2019 In: Intellectual Property & Technology
On June 24, 2019, the United States Supreme Court agreed to review the question of whether 35 U.S.C. § 314(d) permits appeal of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) decision to institute an inter partes review (IPR) upon finding that 35 U.S.C. § 315(b)’s 1-year time bar to file an IPR does not apply.
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Claims with Precise Numerical Values - A Cautionary Tale Posted on: June 06, 2019 In: Intellectual Property & Technology
On March 31, 2019, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Cobalt Boats, LLC v. Brunswick Corporation reversed a finding of infringement and vacated a $7.9 million award (inclusive of $2.5 million in attorneys’ fees) previously granted by the Eastern District of Virginia. Cobalt accused Brunswick of infringing their U.S. Patent No. 8,375,880 (the ‘880 patent) directed to a Retractable Step for Boat Swim Platform, issued February 19, 2013.
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USPTO Supports “Counterintuitive” Interpretation of AIA in Amicus Brief to Fed Circuit Court of Appeals Posted on: March 07, 2019 In: Intellectual Property & Technology
Oral Arguments Scheduled for Next Week - In a curious legal scenario, the USPTO recently filed an amicus brief at the request of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, supporting a “counterintuitive” reading of the American Invents Act (AIA). This stems from an interesting argument made by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary company Janssen Oncology, Inc. regarding estoppel under the AIA.
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Federal Circuit Warns Patent Holders to Reconsider Cease and Desist Letters Posted on: December 11, 2018 In: Intellectual Property & Technology
Sending a cease and desist letter to a patent infringer should never be taken lightly. In particular, patent-related demand letters can have a profound impact on both substantive and procedural strategic decisions. In its recent decision in Jack Henry & Associated et al v. Plano Encryption Technologies, LLC, the Federal Circuit determined that the mere sending of a cease and desist letter could force the sender to litigate the issues outlined in the letter in the home court of the accused infringer.
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