Intellectual Property Law

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: Federal Circuit Deems Software Patent Ineligible, Provides Little Certainty

Posted on May 17, 2013
In its recent en banc decision in CLS Bank v. Alice Corp, the Federal Circuit has affirmed the finding of subject matter ineligibility of Alice Corp's method and software for management of risk in financial transactions through use of a third party intermediary...

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: Supreme Court Rejects Patent Exhaustion Defense for Patented Bean Replanting

Posted on May 13, 2013
The Supreme Court has handed down its much anticipated decision in Bowman v. Monsanto Co., holding that the defense of patent exhaustion does not apply to the practice of planting and harvesting patented seeds through planting and harvesting without the patent holder's permission...

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: Intrinsic Evidence Can Provide Adequate Support to Overcome Indefiniteness

Posted on May 01, 2013
In Biosig Instruments, Inc. v. Nautilus, Inc., the Federal Circuit reversed a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York finding a patent invalid for indefiniteness, relying on intrinsic evidence.  Biosig Instruments, Inc...

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: New and Useful - April 23, 2013

Posted on April 23, 2013
...         In K-Tech Telecoms v. Time Warner Cable, the Federal Circuit confirmed that the standard for evaluating the adequacy of complaints alleging direct patent infringement remains Form 18 of the Appendix of Forms to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ("Form 18")...

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MVS Filewrapper® Blog: New and Useful - April 10, 2013

Posted on April 10, 2013
...       In In re Hubbell the Federal Circuit confirmed the rejection of all of the pending claims in an application, filed with Jeffrey Hubbell, Jason Schense, Andreas Zisch, and Heike Hall as named inventors.  The invention disclosed in the application was based on research performed while all of the named inventors were at California Institute of Technology (CalTech)...

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: New and Useful - April 5, 2013

Posted on April 05, 2013
...         In Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. the Federal Circuit clarified several points relating to claim construction, determinations of non-obviousness, and calculation of damages...

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: Federal Circuit affirms importance of secondary indicia of non-obviousness

Posted on April 05, 2013
The Federal Circuit has recently decided the case of Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc.  Power Integrations, Inc. (Power) sued Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc.  (Fairchild) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging infringement of Power's four patents covering chargers for mobile phones...

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: Supreme Court Decides Foreign First Sale Doctrine

Posted on March 28, 2013
            The Supreme Court recently decided a much anticipated case, finally answering a long awaited question:  Does the first sale doctrine apply to copyrighted works manufactured in other countries?  According to the Supreme Court in Kirtsaeng v...

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: Changes to Implement and Guidelines for Examination under AIA

Posted on March 19, 2013
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has released its rules regarding changes under first inventor to file provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. The rules published by the USPTO in the Federal Register on March 16, 2013 provide guidelines for implementing the new patent law and guidelines for examination of patent applications under the new standards...

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: New and Useful - March 15, 2013

Posted on March 15, 2013
In Brilliant Instruments, Inc. v. GuideTech, LLC, the Federal Circuit reversed a district court's order granting summary judgment of non-infringement of three related patents.  The three asserted patents relate to circuits that measure the timing errors of digital signals in high-speed microprocessors...

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: New and Useful - February 21, 2013

Posted on February 21, 2013
...         In U.S. Polo Assoc., Inc. v. PRL USA Holdings, Inc., the Second Circuit Court of Appeals found that the natural zone of expansion doctrine did not permit the United States Polo Association ('USPA') to expand its offerings into a line of fragrances and affirmed the district court's entry of a permanent injunction prohibiting such use...

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: U.S. Supreme Court Addresses Jurisdiction In Patent Related Case

Posted on February 21, 2013
In an unanimous decision in Gunn v. Minton, the United States Supreme Court clarified:  (1) 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a) does not necessarily deprive state courts of subject matter jurisdiction for cases dealing with patent law, such as a legal malpractice claim asserted against an attorney representing someone in patent litigation; and (2) a state-based malpractice claim asserted a patent attorney does not necessarily evoke federal subject matter jurisdiction...

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: Federal Circuit Addresses Subject Matter Jurisdiction in Patent-Related Cases

Posted on February 14, 2013
In Semiconductor Energy Lab. Co., Ltd. v. Yujiro Nagata, the Federal Circuit weighed in on federal subject matter jurisdiction and provided two important reminders: (1)       Just because a cause of action originates from a patent, standards in the patent statute, or even from other patent litigation, it is the present cause of action and claims that dictate whether subject matter jurisdiction is proper; and (2)       Subject matter jurisdiction, in this case federal question, must be sufficiently pled...

Accent Packaging, Inc. v. Leggett & Platt, Inc.: Reminders on Claim Construction, Discovery Matters

Posted on February 06, 2013
In Accent Packaging, Inc. v. Leggett & Platt, Inc., the Federal Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court's grant of summary judgment of non-infringement.  Accent is the assignee of U.S. Patents 7,373,877 (the '877 patent) and 7,412,992 (the '992 patent)...

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: New and Useful - February 6, 2013

Posted on February 06, 2013
...         In Allergan, Inc. v. Barr Labs the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision by the District of Delaware finding that Barr Laboratories, Inc. and Sandoz Inc. had infringed a patent owned by Allergen, Inc...

MVS Filewrapper® Blog: New and Useful - January 31, 2013

Posted on January 29, 2013
...       In Soverain Software LLC v. Newegg Inc. the Federal Circuit vacated in part and reversed in part an Eastern District of Texas decision finding Newegg Inc. liable for infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,715,314, 5,909,492, and 7,272,639, all relating to electronic commerce...

New and Useful - January 23, 2013

Posted on January 23, 2013
...         In Wax v. Amazon Techs., the Federal Circuit upheld the TTAB's denial of registration of the mark AMAZON VENTURES.  Applicant filed and intent-to-use application to register the mark for 'investment management, raising venture capital for others, ...

Federal Circuit Addresses Obviousness Rationales and Counterarguments

Posted on January 17, 2013
Recently, the Federal Circuit issued its opinion in CW Zumbiel v. Kappos.  The Federal Circuit affirmed the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences' ('BPAI') finding that multiple claims in U.S. Patent No. 6,715,639 ('the '639 patent') were obvious and therefore invalid...

New and Useful - Janurary 14, 2013

Posted on January 14, 2013
...         The Supreme Court handed down its decision in Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc.  The Court held that Nike's covenant not to sue Alreadyfor alleged infringement of Nike's AIR FORCE 1 trademark—entered into after Nike had filed suit and Already had filed a counterclaim challenging the mark's validity—rendered both Nike's claims and Already's counterclaims moot...

Another Billion Dollar Patent Verdict

Posted on January 03, 2013
Another billion dollar verdict has been handed out in a patent case.  Read the verdict in Carnegie Mellon University v. Marvell Technology Group, LTD. here.  This latest case continues a string of billion dollar verdicts highlighted by Jonathan Kennedy in the latest edition of MVS Briefs...

Ultramercial LLC v. Hulu LLC

Posted on September 26, 2011
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently addressed the issue of whether a method of using advertising as a form of currency, to distribute copyrighted products over the internet, constituted patent-eligible subject matter.  The court reversed the district court's dismissal for lack of subject matter eligibility and found the claimed invention fell within patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U...

Leahy-Smith America Invents Act Reforms Patent Law

Posted on September 15, 2011
The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act goes into effect beginning September 16, 2011.  This Act represents the most comprehensive legislative change to patent law since the 1950s.  Most significantly, it changes how priority is determined for an invention and expands and revises procedures for administratively challenging patents through the Patent Office instead of the court system...

Federal Circuit Establishes New Standard for Inequitable Conduct

Posted on June 15, 2011
On May 25, 2011 the Federal Circuit released its en banc decision in Theresense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. , in which the Court articulated the appropriate standard for inequitable conduct before the PTO.  The majority wrote, '[t]his court now tightens the standards for finding both intent and materiality in order to redirect a doctrine that has been overused to the detriment of the public...

Court Redefines Knowledge Requirement for Induced Infringement

Posted on June 15, 2011
 In a recent decision, authored by Justice Alito and joined by all the other Justices but Justice Kennedy, the Supreme Court redefined the knowledge requirement for finding induced infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b).  The case—which centered on a patent for an innovative fryer—provided an opportunity for the Court to elucidate what is required for active inducement of infringement:  that the party accused of inducing infringement must have knowledge that the induced acts constitute patent infringement...

Supreme Court Clarifies Ownership Rights in Federally Funded Inventions Under the Bayh-Dole Act

Posted on June 08, 2011
In a 7-2 decision released yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled the University and Small Business Patent Procedures Act of 1980 ('the Bayh-Dole Act') does not displace the general rule that rights in an invention belong to the inventor, and does not automatically vest title to federally funded inventions in the contractors receiving the federal funds...

USPTO will remain open until April 18 in the event of government shutdown

Posted on April 08, 2011
In a press release, the USPTO stated it has sufficient available funds not tied to the current fiscal year that it will be able to remain open for six days following any shutdown of government functions.  Based on the current appropriations, that would put the USPTO open until April 18, assuming a shutdown begins April 11...

Federal Circuit requires agency relationship or contractual obligation for joint infringement

Posted on January 04, 2011
To establish infringement of a method claim, a patent holder must show that all of the recited steps in the claim are performed by a defendant.  If the recited steps are not performed by a single entity, but by the defendant acting in concert with another party, the patent holder may still show 'joint infringement' if the defendant controls or directs the activities of another party...

Federal Circuit determines that method for optimizing dosing of medication is patent eligible

Posted on December 21, 2010
The Federal Circuit on Friday looked at the issue of what constitutes an attempt to patent a natural phenomenon.   In Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. v. Mayo Collaborative Services, the Federal Circuit determined that a method for optimizing the dosage of a medication was not directed to a natural phenomenon and therefore was patent-eligible subject matter within the meaning of § 101 of the Patent Act...

Bayh-Dole Patent Ownership Dispute to be heard by Supreme Court

Posted on November 08, 2010
Last week, the Supreme Court announced it will review the Federal Circuit decision in Stanford v. Roche, addressing patent ownership under the Bayh-Dole Act, after granting Stanford's petition for a writ of certiorari. The Court will decide an interesting patent ownership dispute involving the contractual obligation of a University inventor to assign rights to the University and the same inventor's prior assignment of future rights to a company (which eventually became Roche)...

Supreme Court hears arguments today regarding first sale doctrine and international purchases

Posted on November 08, 2010
This morning the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Omega S.A., a case regarding the potential international scope of the first sale doctrine.  Costco lawfully purchased authentic Omega watches abroad and imported them to the United States for sale in its stores...

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