This case, Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. West-Ward Pharmaceuticals Int’l Ltd.,[1] arrived to the appeals court through an unusual, but not uncommon, route: a 35 U.S.C. §271(e)(4)(A) infringement resulting from a 21 U.S.C. §355(j) application, or the Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) (aka, generic drug approval process). However, the other aspect of this case is that …
Category: fed circuit watch
opinions by ct appeals for federal circuit (patent, trademark, some copyright)
Fed Circuit Watch: Knowles Déjà Vu as PTAB Not (Necessarily) Bound to Prior Court Claim Construction
In a case of déjà vu, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit handed down Knowles Electronics LLC v. Iancu,[1] on April 6, 2018. This case bears striking resemblance to an earlier-issued case this term, Knowles Electronics LLC v. Cirrus Logic, Inc., of which the issues were previously discussed on this blog. The panels …
Fed Circuit Watch: Google Use of Java APIs Not Fair Use
One of the most important copyright cases was recently decided by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, addressing Google’s use of Java code owned by Oracle. On March 27, 2018, in Oracle America, Inc. v. Google LLC,[1] the Fed Circuit held that Google’s use of Oracle’s Java code was not fair use. This …
Fed Circuit Watch: No Overlap Required for Prima Facie Obviousness Between Claimed & Prior Art Ranges
On March 27, 2018, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in In re Brandt, which is just another case in a long line of cases dealing with ranges and obviousness under 35 U.S.C. §103. The facts are as follows. Gregory A. Brandt and John B. Letts, the application-at-issue’s two inventors, and Firestone …
Fed Circuit Watch: Common Sense Cannot Replace Evidentiary Support
On March 23, 2018, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit handed down DSS Techs. Mgmt., Inc. v. Apple Inc.,[1] reversing two IPR decisions in Apple’s favor on a DSS-owned patent which the PTAB ruled as unpatentable as obvious. The Fed Circuit panel went to lengths to call out the PTAB’s poor analysis and …
Fed Circuit Watch: PTAB Obligated to Follow Own Rules
On March 19, 2018, the Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit handed down Dell Inc. v. Acceleron, LLC (and an erratum)[1] In this case, the panel, composed of Judges Moore, Reyna, and Taranto, ruled that the PTAB had to follow its own rules of practice, after it had decided on late-entered arguments that went counter …
Fed Circuit Watch: Unreasonably Broad PTAB Claim Construction Reversed
On March 19, 2018, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected, in In re Power Integrations, Inc.,[1] a PTAB decision finding that claims were invalidated as anticipated as unreasonably overbroad. The claim construction was subject in an ex parte reexamination of Power Integrations’ U.S. Patent No. 6,249,876 (‘876). ‘876 is directed to “Frequency …
Fed Circuit Watch: Written Description From Earlier-Filed PCT with Species Claim Sufficient Support for Later-Filed Genus Claim
On March 14, 2018, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled on Hologic, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc.,[1] which deals with many areas in patents, including foreign applications, priority claims, 35 U.S.C. §103, 35 U.S.C. §112, and pre-AIA treatment for examination. This case was heard before a panel composing of Judges Newman, …
Fed Circuit Watch: Well-Prepared Lexicography Dooms Claim Term as Obvious
This, unfortunately, was a bad week for Steuben Foods, Inc., since this is the second case it lost at the Federal Circuit against the same adversary, Nestlé Foods. This time, in Nestle USA, Inc. v. Steuben Foods, Inc.,[1] the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, on March 13, 2018, ruled that Steuben Foods could …
Fed Circuit Watch: Claim Construction in Earlier IPR Bars Review of Same Term in Later IPR
Steuben Foods, Inc. did not have a good week at the Federal Circuit. On March 13, 2018, two decisions were rendered against it in two patent cases, although for different rationales. The first, Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Steuben Foods, Inc.,[1] the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that Steuben Foods could not argue …