Posts Tagged: "Federal Circuit"

Computer boilerplate – such as including “a processor and a memory” in claims – is commonplace in patent applications. However, the recent case of In re Stanford shows that this can be a double-edged sword, having the potential to both undermine an application and to ruin an opinion that could otherwise have shed light on several of the thorniest open questions in patent eligibility jurisprudence. Skeptical that such a common practice could be so counterproductive? Read on.

President Joe Biden today announced 11 judicial candidates – 10 for federal circuit and district court judge positions, including Tiffany Cunningham as nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). Cunningham would replace Judge Evan J. Wallach, who announced earlier this month that he will retire from active service and assume senior status as of May 31, 2021, after 10 years of service with the court. 

Two weeks after affirming the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB’s) decision to reject Leland Stanford Junior University’s (Stanford) claims drawn to abstract mathematical calculations and statistical modeling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) last week also affirmed the PTAB’s decision to hold other Stanford patent application claims patent ineligible because they are drawn to abstract mathematical calculations and statistical modeling, and similar nonpatentable subject matter. The examiner rejected claims 1 and 22–43 of U.S. Application No. 13/486,982 (‘982 application), “computerized statistical methods for determining haplotype phase,” on grounds that the claims attempt to cover patent ineligible subject matter, abstract mathematical processes and mental processes. The CAFC applied the two-step framework under Alice v. CLS Bank to determine whether the claims were patent eligible.

In 2019, IPWatchdog reported on Lori Cheek, an independent inventor and founder of the dating service, Cheekd, who has spent the last several years defending herself against accusations brought by Alfred Pirri, Jr. of fraud and misappropriation of trade secrets, among other claims. Cheek told us then that she felt like the U.S. patent and legal systems had done her few favors and that she wished she’d never filed for a patent in the first place. This week, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) delivered Cheek a win, affirming a district court’s finding that she is entitled to attorneys’ fees, and additionally ruling that Pirri, through his lawyer, Steven Fairchild, acted egregiously and that “exceptional sanctions” were warranted.

On March 17, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded a decision from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina in a Lanham Act statutory interpretation case. The case involved plaintiffs Snyder’s-Lance, Inc. and Princeton Vanguard, LLC (collectively “Princeton Vanguard”) and defendant Frito-Lay North America, Inc. (“Frito-Lay”). The district court held that a party to a trademark dispute who appeals a decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), resulting in the vacatur, remand and issuance of a new decision by the TTAB, may not then seek judicial review of that second decision in federal district court. The Fourth Circuit disagreed and ultimately reversed and remanded the case back to the district court.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the nation’s patent court, is at a crossroad. Today, unlike in earlier decades, nearly all its cases are patent-related, yet, to my eye, barely half its members can be considered lifetime patent lawyers. And although any diligent lawyer can learn “black letter” patent law on the job (as I myself did), that is no longer sufficient, because judges also need a deep understanding of how inventors and investors, including corporate CEOs, rely on patents in making difficult and fateful decisions about whether to fund new R&D and manufacture new products, or not. Such decision-makers crave predictability of outcome and stability of legal requirements. Because uncertainty generates excess risk, when in doubt, they usually opt against going forward…. To me, this all suggests that the nominee to fill the vacancy on the CAFC expected in May should be a seasoned patent litigator.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) Judge Evan J. Wallach announced earlier this week that he will retire from active service and assume senior status as of May 31, 2021, after 10 years of service with the court. This leaves an opening on the CAFC for President Biden to fill. Given the many important IP issues that have been playing out at the CAFC in recent years—patent eligibility law, Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) discretionary denials, and the constitutionality of PTAB administrative patent judges, to name a few—the IP community clearly has a big stake in choosing the right candidate.

On March 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed the Middle District of Florida’s decision directing the clerk to unseal the amended complaint of Plaintiff DePuy Synthes Products, Inc., DePuy Synthes Sales, Inc. (Collectively Depuy), deciding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in ensuring public access to court documents (Depuy v. Veterinary Orthopedic Implants). The CAFC agreed with the district court that VOI “did not establish that it took reasonable measures to protect the Manufacturer Identity.” VOI didn’t enter into an agreement to keep the relationship confidential, but the lack of express agreement is not dispositive of the issue. Where an express agreement doesn’t exist, there must be some other indicia that both parties wanted to maintain a confidential relationship.

On March 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) granted Janssen Pharmaceuticals’ motion to dismiss Mylan Laboratories’ appeal and denied Mylan Laboratories’ request for mandamus relief, holding that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear Mylan’s appeal and that Mylan had failed to qualify for mandamus relief. In 2019, Janssen Pharmaceuticals sued Mylan Laboratories in district court for infringing U.S. Patent No. 9,439,906 (the ‘906 patent). In response, Mylan Laboratories petitioned the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) for inter partes review (IPR) of the ‘906 patent, raising four grounds for the unpatentability of certain claims, all based on 35 U.S.C. §103. In opposition to the institution of the IPR, Janssen Pharmaceuticals argued that the IPR “would be an inefficient use of Board resources,” due to two co-pending district court cases: the suit against Mylan Laboratories and another against Teva Pharmaceuticals, arguing “that both actions would likely reach final judgment before any IPR final written decision.”

On March 11, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed the decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to hold the rejected claims from Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford) were not patent eligible because the claims are drawn to abstract mathematical calculations and statistical modeling. The examiner rejected claims 1, 4 to 11, 14 to 25, and 27 to 30 of U.S. Application Nos. 13/445,925 (‘925 application), “methods and computing systems for determining haplotype phase,” for involving patent ineligible subject matter. The CAFC applied the two-step framework under Alice v. CLS Bank to determine whether the claims were patent eligible.  

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) ruled on March 8 that Western District of Texas Judge Alan Albright’s failure to rule on a motion to transfer by Tracfone Wireless, Inc. was “strikingly similar to circumstances from the same district court last month in SK hynix,” which the court ruled amounted to “egregious delay.” Unlike SK hynix, Inc., F. App’x 600 (Fed. Cir. 2021), where the CAFC stopped short of granting a writ of mandamus, here, the petitioner’s writ of mandamus was granted and a stay of proceedings regarding all substantive issues was ordered until a decision is rendered on the motion to transfer.

On March 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) vacated and reversed the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California’s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of defendant Munchkin, Inc. (Munchkin) for noninfringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 8,899,420 (the ‘420 patent) and 6,974,029 (the ‘029 patent), held by plaintiffs Edgewell Personal Care Brands, LLC and International Refills Company, Ltd. (collectively Edgewell). Edgewell manufactures and sells the Diaper Genie, a diaper pail system with two main components: 1) a pail for collection of soiled diapers; and 2) a replaceable cassette within the pail that forms a wrapper around the soiled diapers. The ‘420 and ‘029 patents relate to improvements in the cassette design. Edgewell filed suit against Munchkin for infringement of these patents for selling refill cassettes marketed as being compatible with Edgewell’s Diaper Genie. Edgewell appealed the district court’s decision to grant summary judgment to Munchkin for noninfringement of both patents.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) ruled yesterday in Uniloc v. Facebook, Inc., WhatsApp, Inc. that the “no appeal” provision of 35 U.S.C. § 314 does not preclude the court from reviewing a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) finding that a petitioner is not estopped from maintaining an IPR proceeding under the IPR estoppel provision of 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(1). However, the court noted that its decision was based on the particular facts of this case, where “the alleged estoppel-triggering event occurred after institution.”

In an appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims (Claims Court), the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) last week affirmed a decision granting summary judgment in favor of the U.S. government with respect to a nonexclusive trademark license between the Department of the Army and an apparel company (Authentic Apparel Group, LLC v. United States). In the March 4 opinion, the CAFC agreed with the Claims Court that a license agreement’s provision giving the Army broad approval discretion over Authentic’s requests to use the Army’s trademarks on proposed products or marketing materials was not at odds with the principles of trademark law. The CAFC also held that Authentic did not present any legal or factual reasons to deviate from a plain reading of the license agreement’s exculpatory clauses.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on March 1 affirmed a district court’s decision that a patent owner’s “scandalous and baseless allegations” against IBM, SAP America, Inc. (“SAP”) and JP Morgan Chase (“Chase”) warranted monetary sanctions. The CAFC decision also noted that patent infringement is not a predicate act for purposes of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and that “redundant, immaterial, impertinent or scandalous” matter may be stricken from the record as a lesser, alternate sanction to monetary sanctions.”