Posts Tagged: "CAFC"

Jeffrey Killian yesterday submitted a petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court asking the Court to provide clear guidance on or else throw out the Alice/Mayo test for patent eligibility. Killian is involved in an ongoing patent dispute in which the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) rejected claims of his  U.S. Patent Application No. 14/450,042 under Section 101. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed the ruling in August 2022. In the petition, Killian claims that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) violated Supreme Court precedent by ruling the patent application ineligible under the Alice/Mayo test.

One day before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is set to hold its first public listening session on AI inventorship, the U.S. Supreme Court today denied certiorari in the case of Thaler v. Vidal, which asked the Court to consider the question: “Does the Patent Act categorically restrict the statutory term ‘inventor’ to human beings alone?” Dr. Stephen Thaler lost his case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) last August, when the CAFC said the USPTO’s reading of the statute as clearly referring to inventors as natural person was “unambiguously” correct.

On April 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a precedential opinion in FS.com v. International Trade Commission affirming the ITC’s determination that fiber optic cable distributor FS.com violated 19 U.S.C. § 1337 by importing goods infringing upon patent claims owned by Corning Optical Communications. This relatively short Federal Circuit decision dealt mainly with FS.com’s enablement arguments on appeal, which the appellate court nixed after finding that skilled artisans would understand an inherent upper limit to allegedly open-ended claims on fiber optic connection densities.

The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), the firm representing U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) Judge Pauline Newman in CAFC Chief Judge Kimberly Moore’s bid to oust her from the court, sent a letter today to the CAFC Chief Judge calling for the case to be transferred to a new circuit. The letter charges that Moore has ordered that no new cases be assigned to Newman, that the complaint Moore identified against her “contains basic errors of fact”, and that Newman was not afforded enough time to respond to Moore’s numerous demands, among other accusations. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts also received a copy of the letter.

Yesterday, in a precedential decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed a district court ruling that upheld the validity of several claims in two Amgen patents and barred Sandoz and Zydus from producing generic versions of Amgen’s psoriasis drug Otezla until 2028. The CAFC ruling also upheld the district court’s ruling that three claims in Amgen’s U.S. Patent 10,092,541 were invalid. However, that did not stop Amgen from declaring victory in the case in a press release.

On April 17, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari filed by pharmaceutical developer Novartis seeking to overturn a decision on rehearing by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that invalidated patent claims covering the blockbuster multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment, Gilenya. The cert denial leaves in place a CAFC decision derided by commentators as “procedural insanity” and increases the focus upon certain machinations at the appellate court bearing the fingerprints of Chief Judge Kimberly Moore.

On Wednesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) reversed a district court’s dismissal of a Florida vape company’s patent lawsuit against tobacco company Phillip Morris. Healthier Choices Management (HCM) filed the appeal to the CAFC after a district court ruled in Phillip Morris’s favor, dismissing the patent infringement case. HCM alleged that Phillip Morris infringed on its patent for an electronic pipe, U.S. Patent No. 10,561,170. The CAFC reversed the district court’s dismissal of the original complaint and its denial of HCM’s motion to amend the complaint. Additionally, the appeals court vacated the award of attorneys’ fees to Phillip Morris.

Trademark applicant Charger Ventures LLC has lost its appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB’s) finding that SPARK LIVING is likely to be confused with an earlier-registered mark, SPARK. The precedential decision was authored by Judge Reyna. Both marks cover real estate services, but Charger amended its application to specify residential real estate services, whereas the earlier mark specified services related to commercial real estate property. Charger also disclaimed the term “LIVING” in response to the examiner’s request. However, the examiner ultimately issued a final office action refusing the application on the grounds that “a comparison of the respective marks show[s] that they are comprised either in whole or significant part of the term ‘SPARK,’”…and both marks are for real estate services, with ‘overlapping identifications of leasing and rental management services.’”

On April 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a precedential ruling in Sequoia Technology, LLC v. Dell, Inc. reversing part of a District of Delaware ruling invalidating digital storage patent claims owned by Sequoia under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Although the ruling restores Sequoia’s rights to the patent claims at issue in the case, the Federal Circuit affirmed portions of the district court’s claim construction order that had supported a finding that Dell and other defendants did not infringe upon Sequoia’s asserted patent claims.

IPWatchdog has learned from several sources this week that U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) Chief Judge Kimberly Moore has filed a judicial complaint against Judge Pauline Newman under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act. According to those who have seen the complaint, Moore is claiming she has probable cause to believe that Newman is unable to effectively discharge the duties of her office. Sources tell IPWatchdog that Chief Judge Moore primarily makes two separate allegations against Judge Newman. First, that Judge Newman is slow to issue opinions, which affects the administration of justice. Second, Moore has apparently heard stories from colleagues and others at the court that cause her to have concerns about Judge Newman’s overall ability to serve. Numerous staff and colleagues with knowledge of the complaint filed against Newman have contacted IPWatchdog to both confirm the filing of the complaint and to vehemently oppose the allegations being made about Judge Newman’s competence.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) today affirmed in a precedential decision the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB’s) finding that Moderna Therapeutics proved certain claims of Arbutus Biopharma Corporation’s mRNA delivery patent invalid as anticipated. U.S. Patent No. 9,404,127 is titled “Non-liposomal Systems for Nucleic Acid Delivery” and is directed to “an invention that provides stable nucleic acid-lipid particles (‘SNALP’) that have a non-lamellar structure and ‘comprise a nucleic acid . . . methods of making the SNALP, and methods of delivering and/or administering the SNALP.’” SNALP has a three-dimensional structure that is either a lamellar morphology or non-lamellar (pictured).

On April 10, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a trio of Rule 36 judgments that summarily affirmed a series of final written decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Rule 36 summary affirmances at the Federal Circuit have been a growing problem in the realm of U.S. patent law over the better part of the last decade. Without the benefit of an appellate court’s reasoned analysis of arguments raised on appeal, IP attorneys and professionals are left grasping for answers from PTAB rulings without knowing for certain whether the PTAB’s construction of obviousness doctrine is proper.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on Thursday issued a precedential decision holding that SAS Institute , Inc. failed to establish copyrightability of its asserted software program elements. Judge Newman dissented, arguing the ruling “contravenes the Copyright Act and departs from the long-established precedent and practice of copyrightability of computer programs” and that it represents a “far-reaching change.”

On Wednesday, April 5, the United States Solicitor General (SG) recommended that the U.S. Supreme Court grant certiorari in two patent eligibility cases in order to “clarify the proper reach and application of the abstract-idea exception to patent eligibility under Section 101.” The SG filed the same brief in each of the two cases, Interactive Wearables, LLC v. Polar Electric Oy and David A. Tropp v. Travel Sentry, Inc. et. al.