On June 7, 2018, the Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit handed down PGS Geophysical AS v. Iancu,[1] which has a tangential relationship to the WesternGeco LLC, of the recent WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp. [2] recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. This case is one of several transition cases pending with the …
Category: PTAB
Fed Circuit Watch: PTAB Invalidity Collaterally Estops Assertion of Those Claims in Later Appellate Case
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit waded into a convoluted case involving patents directed to X-Y chromosome sorting techniques for selective breeding in livestock. This case is XY, LLC v. Trans Ova Genetics, L.C.,[1] and the opinion was issued on May 23, 2018. Topically, the case deals with breach of contract, antitrust, and …
SCOTUS Watch: Supreme Court Vacates CBM Scope Definition
On May 14, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court granted PNC Bank National Assoc.’s petition for writ of certiorari and vacated the Fed Circuit’s ruling limiting the scope of a covered business method (CBM), in PNC Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. Secure Axcess, LLC.[1] The Supreme Court, in its orders, wrote: The petition for writ of certiorari …
SCOTUS Watch: No PTAB Partial Review of Claims
In the second of two patent decisions handed down by the United States Supreme Court on April 24, 2018, SAS Inst. Inc. v. Iancu[1] was the less visible of the two cases. However, SAS’s close split decision and more practical effect on the patent practice will make it the much more important patent case handed …
SCOTUS Watch: IPRs Do Not Violate Article III or Seventh Amendment
Article III of the U.S. Constitution states: The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.[1] Also, the Copyright and Patent Clause of the U.S. Constitution states: The Congress shall have power . . …
WesternGeco Damages Case Before SCOTUS in Doubt After Fed Circuit Ruling
A recently-issued decision from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit may have implications on a pending case before the U.S. Supreme Court. That case, WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp.,[1] was issued May 7, 2018, and may affect how the Supreme Court rules in a related case involving the same parties and patents …
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: 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: 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 …