On April 19, 2018, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit handed down Droplets, Inc. v. E*Trade Bank,[1] in a case dealing with the formal issue of preparing a proper claim of priority in the specification. The absence of one will cause major problems downstream, as it did for Droplets, Inc. The facts are …
Category: Written Description
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: PTAB Not Bound by Fed Circuit Precedent
On March 1, 2018, in a fairly convoluted and highly fractured decision, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was not bound to collateral estoppel principles which form a long line of Fed Circuit case precedence. That case is Knowles Elecs. LLC v. Cirrus Logic, …