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

Parks served in Vietnam 1964-1966. Along with 6,000 other soldiers, Parks volunteered for “Project 112” and was intentionally exposed to chemical warfare agents. In 2000 and in 2002, Parks sought service connection for diabetes type II with peripheral neuropathy and heart disability. The Regional Office denied the claims. While appeal was pending, the government declassified details about chemicals used in Project 112. The Department of Defense reported that it did not know of any long-term effects caused by exposure to the chemicals, but the Veterans Health Administration required the VA to provide to Project 112 veterans “a thorough clinical evaluation,” enhanced access to the VA health care system, and free care for any illness possibly related to their participation” and 38 U.S.C. 1710(e)(1)(E) provides specific services for veterans who participated in Project 112. The VA sent Parks a letter identifying the chemicals to which he had been exposed and providing instructions on how to obtain additional medical examinations. Ultimately, the Veterans’ Court denied a service connection. The Federal Circuit affirmed, upholding reasoning that a nurse practitioner is able to provide a medical examination that meets the regulatory requirements of competent medical evidence and refusal to consider information found on the Internet. View "Parks v. Shinseki" on Justia Law

Kyhn served in the U.S. Army 1945-1946. In 1998, he filed a claim for service-connected hearing loss, which was denied by the regional office. Kyhn submitted a Notice of Disagreement, with medical evidence from his private audiologist and asserted that he was seeking service connection for tinnitus. The RO granted service connection for hearing loss at a 50% rating, but denied service connection for tinnitus. Kyhn did not appeal. The decision became final. In 2004, Kyhn sought to reopen his tinnitus claim and presented another letter from his private audiologist. Although the RO declined to reopen the tinnitus claim, the Board found the private audiologist’s statement constituted new and material evidence and remanded. Kyhn failed to appear and the Board denied service connection, based on the evidence of record. The Veterans Court found the VA had a regular practice to provide veterans with notice of their VA examinations and applied the presumption of regularity to presume the VA had properly notified Kyhn in accordance with this practice and affirmed the denial. The Federal Circuit vacated because of the lower court’s reliance on affidavits that were not part of the record before the Board. View "Kyhn v. Shinseki" on Justia Law

Combigan®, used to treat glaucoma, is a combination of the well-known alpha2-agonist Alphagan® and the well-known beta-blocker Timoptic® and contains the preservative benzalkonium chloride, which is widely-used in ophthalmic formulations. Allergan holds four patents related to Combigan®. The asserted claims are directed to a composition of 0.2% brimonidine and 0.5% timolol, expressed in different ways, some claims are directed to a fixed combination, others are directed to a method of treatment by administering the composition twice daily, and others are directed to packaging material indicating that twice daily administration of the composition is useful for treating glaucoma or ocular hypertension. Defendants submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration an Abbreviated New Drug Application, seeking approval to market a generic version of Combigan®. Allergan sued under 35 U.S.C. 271(e)(2)(A), claiming infringement of Allergan’s four Orange Book-listed patents. Prior to trial, but after claim construction, the district court granted summary judgment of non-infringement as to certain claims, the court then found each asserted claim not invalid. The Federal Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part, finding the district court erred in finding certain claims not invalid as obvious. Defendants, however, failed to prove that another claim would have been obvious. View "Allergan, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc." on Justia Law

Figueroa received the flu vaccine in 2008. Within 20 days, he developed numbness in his face, impaired speech, and weakness. He was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a sometimes fatal nervous system disorder. Because GBS is not listed on the Vaccine Injury Table, 42 U.S.C. 300aa-14(a), it requires proof of causation, although flu vaccine GBS cases have been compensated under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. Figueroa had 36 months from the onset of symptoms to file a petition under the Act (until November, 2011), but, in 2010, he died of pancreatic cancer. His widow timely sought compensation for the vaccine-related neurological injuries suffered prior to his death. A special master dismissed, reasoning that because Figueroa had died of pancreatic cancer, a non-vaccine-related cause, Ms. Figueroa lacked standing to seek injury compensation. The Court of Federal Claims affirmed. The Federal Circuit reversed, interpreting a section that provides: “any person who has sustained a vaccine-related injury, the legal representative of such person if such person is a minor or is disabled, or the legal representative of any person who died as the result of the administration of a vaccine ... may ... file a petition for compensation,” 42 U.S.C. 300aa-11(b)(1)(A) View "Figueroa v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs." on Justia Law

Versata’s patents relate to computer-based pricing of products. In prior art, each factor required separate database queries, so that determining a price was highly inefficient. The claimed invention identifies all the groups to which a customer belongs and all corresponding price adjustments and product-related factor. Versata marketed a successful product, Pricer, sold as a package with other Versata software or as an addition to enterprise systems offered by companies like SAP. While Versata’s patent application was pending, SAP released a new version of its software that contained hierarchical pricing capability, which, it stated, was like Pricer. Pricer sales faltered. Versata sued for infringement. In the first trial, the jury found that SAP directly infringed asserted claims, induced and contributed to infringement of one claim, and that the claims were not invalid, and awarded $138,641,000. The court granted JMOL of noninfringement of the 400 patent, but denied JMOL of noninfringement of the 350 patent. Before the second trial, SAP modified its products with a patch that prevented users from saving data into certain fields. The jury concluded that the products still infringed and awarded $260 million in lost profits and royalties of $85 million. The court entered a permanent injunction. The Federal Circuit vacated the injunction as overbroad, but otherwise affirmed. View "Versata Software, Inc. v. SAP Am., Inc." on Justia Law

In 2003 Federal Air Marshals were told of a potential hijacking plot. Soon after that, the Agency sent an unencrypted text message to the Marshals’ cell phones temporarily cancelling missions on flights from Las Vegas. Marshal MacLean became concerned that this created a danger. He unsuccessfully complained to his supervisor and to the Inspector General, then spoke to an MSNBC reporter. MSNBC published an article, and the Agency withdrew the directive after members of Congress joined the criticism. In 2004, MacLean appeared on NBC Nightly News in disguise to criticize Agency dress code, which he believed allowed Marshals to be easily identified. During the subsequent investigation, MacLean admitted that he revealed the cancellation directive. MacLean was removed from his position for unauthorized disclosure of sensitive security information (SSI). Although the Agency had not initially labeled the message as SSI, it subsequently ordered that its content was SSI. The Ninth Circuit rejected MacLean’s challenge to the order. MacLean then challenged termination of his employment, arguing he had engaged in protected whistleblowing activity. An ALJ and the Merit Systems Protection Board concluded that the disclosure was specifically prohibited by 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(8)(A) and that unauthorized disclosure of SSI was a non-retaliatory reason for removal. The Federal Circuit vacated and remanded, finding that the Board incorrectly interpreted the Whistleblower Protection Act. View "MacLean v. Dep't of Homeland Sec." on Justia Law

The 753 patent is directed to a heart rate monitor that purports to improve upon the prior art by effectively eliminating noise signals during the process of detecting a user’s heart rate. According to the patent, prior art monitors did not eliminate signals given off by skeletal muscles (EMG signals), which are brought about when users move their arms or squeeze the monitor with their fingers. Biosig, the assignee of the 753 patent, brought a patent infringement action against Nautilus. After claim construction of the disputed term ”space relationship,” the district court declared the patent invalid. The Federal Circuit reversed and remanded, finding the claims at issue not invalid for indefiniteness. View "Biosig Instruments, Inc. v. Nautilus, Inc." on Justia Law

Lazare Kaplan owns the 351 patent, which claims methods and systems for using lasers to make microinscriptions on gemstones. In 2006, Lazare Kaplan brought suit for infringement of two patents, including the 351 patent, against Photoscribe. In response, Photoscribe filed counterclaims seeking declarations of invalidity. Following a remand, the district court entered summary judgment of invalidity. The Federal Circuit held that the court erred in revisiting the issue of validity on remand, reversed the grant of relief, vacated the finding of invalidity, instructed the court to assess infringement, and declined to reassign the matter to a new judge on remand. View "Lazare Kaplan Int'l, Inc. v. Photoscribe Techs, Inc." on Justia Law

Aspex’s complaint charged Zenni with infringement of three patents directed to clip-on eyewear in which magnets secure the bridge portions of the eyewear. The district court held that Aspex was collaterally estopped from pursuing the suit, based on earlier litigation between Aspex and Altair Eyewear for infringement of the same patents that resulted in summary judgment of non-infringement. The Federal Circuit affirmed, rejecting arguments that certain of the patent claims in suit against Zenni Optical were not included in the Altair litigation, and that several terms now at issue had not previously been construed or were incorrectly construed. View "Aspex Eyewear, Inc. v. Zenni Optical, Inc." on Justia Law

In 2011, K-Tech sued DirecTV for patent infringement against DirecTV. On the same day, K-Tech filed a similar action against TWC. The complaints named four patents identifying systems and methods for modifying a major channel number, a minor channel number, and/or a carrier frequency to identify a television program. The district court dismissed both complaints and K-Tech’s amended complaints, for failure to state a claim. The Federal Circuit reversed, finding that the district court applied the incorrect standard in evaluating the adequacy of K-Tech’s complaints. District courts must evaluate complaints alleging direct infringement by reference to Form 18 of the Appendix of Forms to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. K-Tech’s amended complaints satisfied those standards. DirecTV and TWC know what K-Tech’s patents claim, and they know what K-Tech asserts their systems do, and why. K-Tech has alleged that DirecTV and TWC must and do modify or “translate” digital signals they receive, and it has alleged that they do so using K-Tech’s patented methods and systems. View "K-Tech Telecomm., Inc. v. Time Warner Cable, Inc." on Justia Law