Justia U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

In this case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the findings of the International Trade Commission (ITC) which ruled in favor of Universal Electronics, Inc. (Universal) in a patent dispute with Roku, Inc. The patent at issue, U.S. Patent No. 10,593,196, related to a "universal control engine" that helps different types of media devices communicate with each other using various communication protocols. Universal had accused Roku of importing certain TV products that infringed this patent.The court affirmed the ITC's findings on three key issues:1. Ownership Rights: Roku had argued that Universal lacked standing to assert the patent because it did not own all rights to the patent at the time it filed its complaint. However, the court found that Universal did indeed possess ownership rights based on a 2012 agreement which constituted a present conveyance of patent rights.2. Domestic Industry Requirement: The court found that Universal satisfied the economic prong of the domestic industry requirement by proving a substantial investment in engineering and research and development to exploit the patent. Roku had argued that the Commission erred by not requiring Universal to allocate its domestic industry expenses to a specific domestic industry product, but the court disagreed.3. Non-Obviousness of Patent: The court affirmed the ITC's determination that Roku failed to establish a prima facie case that the challenged claims were unpatentable as obvious. The court found that the combination of two prior art references did not disclose all elements of the patent claim in question. Additionally, the court found that Roku failed to present clear and convincing evidence of a motivation to combine the prior art references.Based on these findings, the court affirmed the ITC's decision, thereby ruling in favor of Universal Electronics, Inc. View "ROKU, INC. v. ITC " on Justia Law

In this case, CyWee Group Ltd. appealed a decision made by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the "Board") that found unpatentable claims 1, 4–5, 14–17, and 19 of U.S. Patent No. 8,441,438, which is directed to a three-dimensional (3D) pointing device. The appeal also involved CyWee’s revised motion to amend its claims. The main arguments of CyWee's appeal were that the Board erred by allowing LG Electronics Inc., an intervenor in the case, to oppose CyWee’s motion to amend and that the Board erred in denying the revised motion to amend.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Board's decision. The court found no error in the Board’s decision to allow LG to oppose the revised motion to amend, despite LG joining the case as a passive 'understudy'. The court also found substantial evidence to support the Board's conclusion that a skilled artisan would combine the prior art references in the case. The court rejected CyWee's argument that it was denied meaningful Director review, in line with precedent set in previous cases. View "CYWEE GROUP LTD. v. ZTE (USA), INC. " on Justia Law

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the decisions from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Patent Trial and Appeal Board in a patent dispute between Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (PacBio) and Personal Genomics Taiwan, Inc. (PGI). The core dispute revolved around the interpretation of the term "identifying a single biomolecule" in the claims of PGI’s U.S. Patent No. 7,767,441. The Board interpreted the term to mean that the apparatus must be capable of ascertaining the identity of one single, individual biomolecule by examining only that biomolecule. On appeal, the court affirmed the Board’s interpretation. PacBio challenged the Board’s finding that the Hassibi reference did not disclose “identifying a single biomolecule” under the claim construction, while PGI challenged the Board’s finding that the Choumane reference did disclose “identifying a single biomolecule” under that construction. The court found substantial evidence supporting the Board’s findings for both references and affirmed the decisions. PacBio and PGI bear their own costs. View "PACIFIC BIOSCIENCES OF CALIFORNIA, INC. v. PERSONAL GENOMICS TAIWAN, INC. " on Justia Law

This case revolves around an interlocutory appeal from a consolidated case between Abbott Diabetes Care, Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corp. (collectively, “Abbott”), and DexCom, Inc. at the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. DexCom had sued Abbott for infringing its patents, leading Abbott to petition for inter partes review of the asserted patents before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. DexCom sought a preliminary injunction to prevent Abbott from proceeding with the inter partes review proceedings based on a forum selection clause in a settlement and license agreement between the parties. DexCom appealed the district court’s denial of the preliminary injunction.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court's decision, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the preliminary injunction. The court found that the forum selection clause in the settlement and license agreement did not preclude the filing of inter partes review petitions after the Covenant Period because it allowed them during the Covenant Period. Therefore, DexCom could not succeed on its breach-of-contract counterclaim, making it ineligible for a preliminary injunction. View "DEXCOM, INC. v. ABBOTT DIABETES CARE, INC. " on Justia Law

In the patent infringement case between K-fee System GmbH and Nespresso USA, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the district court’s decision. K-fee owns three patents related to coffee-machine portion capsules that display information to prevent their use in incompatible machines. The company alleged that Nespresso infringed these patents. The district court had interpreted the term "barcode" in K-fee's patents to exclude "bit codes," or codes made up of two binary symbols. Based on this interpretation, the court granted Nespresso’s motion for summary judgment of non-infringement.On appeal, the Federal Circuit disagreed with the district court’s interpretation of “barcode.” The court found that a "barcode" is defined by its visual appearance as a lineup of bars with varying widths, and that this definition can include bit codes. The court determined that the district court had erred in its claim construction of "barcode," and consequently, in its grant of summary judgment of non-infringement based on that construction. The case was remanded for further proceedings in line with this interpretation. View "K-FEE SYSTEM GMBH v. NESPRESSO USA, INC. " on Justia Law

The case involves ParkerVision, Inc. appealing a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) that invalidated one of its patents, U.S. Patent No. 7,110,444 ('444 patent), owned by ParkerVision, Inc., which relates to wireless local area networks (WLANs) that use frequency translation technology. The Board determined that claim 3 of the patent is unpatentable as obvious in light of prior art. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Board's decision. The court found that the Board correctly construed the term “storage element” and did not procedurally err in how it treated certain arguments raised by the parties. The court also found substantial evidence supporting the Board's finding that the patent claim was obvious in light of prior art. The court found no violation of ParkerVision's procedural rights under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and no abuse of the Board's discretion in excluding parts of ParkerVision’s sur-reply. View "PARKERVISION, INC. v. VIDAL " on Justia Law

In this case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit considered whether the defendants' Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) infringed two patents owned by the plaintiffs. The patents pertained to the use of the drug vortioxetine in the treatment of patients who had previously taken certain other antidepressant medications and had to cease or reduce use due to sexually related adverse events, and for the treatment of cognitive impairment. The defendants were seeking approval to market vortioxetine for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in adults, a use not covered by the patents. The plaintiffs sought to block the defendants from marketing a generic version of the drug until after the expiration of the patents.The court held that the defendants' ANDA filings did not infringe the plaintiffs' patents. The court found that the defendants' intended use of the drug, for the treatment of MDD in adults, did not infringe the patents which pertained to other specific uses of the drug.Moreover, the court found no induced or contributory infringement. Regarding induced infringement, the court held that the defendants' proposed labels for the drug did not encourage, recommend, or promote an infringing use. Regarding contributory infringement, the court held that the defendants' sale of the drug would have substantial noninfringing uses, thus there would be no contributory infringement.Additionally, the court rejected Lupin's cross-appeal, which challenged the district court's determination that Lupin infringed a patent concerning a process for manufacturing vortioxetine. The court affirmed the district court's construction of the term "reacting" in the patent and its determination of infringement. View "H. LUNDBECK A/S v. LUPIN LTD. " on Justia Law

In a case before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit involving VLSI Technology LLC and Intel Corporation, the court examined claims of patent infringement and respective damages. VLSI alleged that Intel had infringed two of its patents, U.S. Patent No. 7,523,373 ("373 patent") and U.S. Patent No. 7,725,759 ("759 patent").The jury found that Intel had indeed infringed both patents and awarded separate damages for each. Intel appealed these decisions. The court affirmed the judgment of infringement of the 373 patent but reversed the judgment of infringement of the 759 patent. The court also vacated the award of damages for the 373 patent and remanded the case for a new trial limited to damages. The court further reversed the denial of Intel's motion for leave to amend to add a license defense.The court's decisions hinged on a number of factors, including the interpretation of the patents, the evidence presented by both parties, and the legal conclusions drawn by the district court. The court's decision underscores the complexity of patent infringement cases and the importance of accurately interpreting and applying patent law. View "VLSI TECHNOLOGY LLC v. INTEL CORPORATION " on Justia Law

Purdue sued Collegium for infringement of its patent, meant to deter the abuse of opioid analgesics by the inclusion of an aversive agent, Collegium petitioned the Patent Trial and Appeal Board for post-grant review (PGR) of claims 1– 17. The Board found the challenged claims eligible for PGR because the pre-America Invents Act (AIA) 2001 application to which Purdue claimed priority did not contain sufficient written description support for the claimed invention. Under 35 U.S.C. 326(a)(11), the Board had one year to issue a Final Written Decision subject to a six-month extension. In September 2019, Purdue filed a Notice of Bankruptcy. The PGR proceeding and court case were stayed. In October 2019, a six-month extension was approved: “Petitioner should seek any relief it deems appropriate from the Bankruptcy Court.” Neither party sought guidance or an order lifting the stay from the bankruptcy court. The April 2020, extended deadline passed. In July 2020, the bankruptcy court lifted the stay for both proceedings.Rejecting Purdue’s motion to terminate the PGR, the Board concluded that “the AIA’s silence as to a consequence for timely issuing a final written decision does not divest us of our authority” and found claims 1–17 unpatentable for lack of written description and anticipation. The Federal Circuit affirmed. Under Supreme Court precedent, the Board has the authority to issue a Final Written Decision after the deadline proscribed in the statute has passed absent any contrary indication in the language, structure, or legislative history of the statute. View "Purdue Pharma L.P. v. Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc." on Justia Law

Telefex’s 116 patent. is directed to a method for using a guide extension catheter with a guide catheter. In 2019, Medtronic launched its own allegedly infringing guide extension catheter product, Telescope. Medtronic filed two petitions for inter partes review (IPR) of the 116 patent. The Federal Circuit affirmed the Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board in holding that Medtronic had not shown the challenged claims to be unpatentable. In finding that the claimed invention was conceived before the critical date of alleged prior art (Itou), the court determined that the claimed invention was actually reduced to practice before the critical date of Itou and the patent owner diligently pursued work on the invention until its constructive reduction to practice. “In vivo” testing was not required for actual reduction to practice because the claims at issue are method claims reciting “advancing . . . a guide catheter . . . through a main blood vessel to an ostium of a coronary artery.” View "Medtronic, Inc. v. Teleflex Life Sciences Ltd.," on Justia Law