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

WestRock’s Virginia paper mill was fueled by steam from boilers that burned various fuels, including fossil fuels. In 2013, WestRock placed into service a cogeneration facility that burns open-loop biomass, material not originally intended for use as fuel. Steam from a new biomass-fired boiler and an old paper mill boiler are comingled and fed into a steam turbine generator. Electricity is generated after WestRock diverts some steam to the paper mill for use in the industrial paper process. In 2013, WestRock submitted an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Section 1603 application seeking a grant; it claimed that its qualifying property cost $286,191,571 and requested $85,857,471. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory determined that WestRock used only 49.1 percent of the steam energy to produce electricity and that fossil fuel still comprised about 0.22 percent of its boiler fuel. The Department of Treasury reduced the cost basis by 51.2 percent and awarded WestRock $38,881,758—30 percent of the cost of what Treasury deemed qualifying property. The Claims Court affirmed, finding that Section 1603 provides for reimbursement of only costs associated with electricity production at WestRock’s facility. The court afforded deference to nonbinding Treasury guidance, which provides for allocation of the cost basis between qualifying and non-qualifying activities. The Federal Circuit affirmed. Section 1603 provides for a grant in the amount of 30 percent of the basis or cost of any qualified property that is used as an integral part of a facility that uses open-loop biomass to produce electricity. View "WestRock Virginia Corp. v. United States" on Justia Law

Cellspin sued Fitbit, Moov, Nike, Fossil, Garmin, Canon, GoPro, Panasonic, and JKI (defendants) for infringing various claims of four patents that share the same specification and generally relate to connecting a data capture device, e.g., a digital camera, to a mobile device so that a user can automatically publish content from the data capture device to a website.. The district court dismissed, finding the patents ineligible for patent protection under 35 U.S.C. 101, and awarded attorney fees to defendants under 35 U.S.C. 285. The Federal Circuit vacated, concluding that the district court misapplied precedent. The asserted claims are directed to an abstract idea--the idea of capturing and transmitting data from one device to another--but the district court erred with respect to the “second step” inventive concept inquiry, by ignoring allegations that, when properly accepted as true, preclude the grant of a motion to dismiss. Cellspin made specific, plausible factual allegations about why aspects of its claimed inventions were not conventional, e.g., its two-step, two-device structure requiring a connection before data is transmitted. View "Cellspin Soft, Inc. v. Fitbit, Inc." on Justia Law

Elbit’s 073 patent, entitled “Reverse Link for a Satellite Communication Network,” claims a system for transmitting information from user terminals to a central hub using satellite communication—a “reverse link.” Add “a forward link,” i.e., satellite communication from the hub to user terminals, and the result is “a complete two-way communication system via satellite.” To transmit data to the hub, user terminals employ a “transmitter means,” which has two communication means, one for “transmitting short bursty data,” and a second for “continuous transmission of data.” Elbit sued Hughes for infringement. The jury found system claims 2–4 of the patent infringed and not invalid, and awarded damages. The district court found that the case was exceptional and that Elbit is entitled to attorney’s fees, but the court has not quantified the fees. The Federal Circuit affirmed as to infringement and damages but concluded it lacked jurisdiction over the unquantified attorney’s fees decision. Substantial evidence supported the jury’s findings. Elbit and its expert did what case law requires in explaining the relevance of a prior settlement to this case. Hughes, which introduced no expert damages testimony, did not demonstrate either “faulty assumptions” or “a lack of reliable economic testimony” that would warrant disturbing the jury’s award. View "Elbit Systems Land & C4I Ltd v. Hughes Network Systems, LLC" on Justia Law

UCB’s 434 patent, entitled “Transdermal therapeutic system which contains a d2 agonist and which is provided for treating Parkinsonism, and a method for the production thereof,” claims a polymorph of rotigotine. UCB’s 414 patent is entitled “Polymorphic form of rotigotine and process for production.” UCB has been selling the FDA-approved product, Neupro, since 2007. The district court concluded that Actavis’s generic products infringed the patent under the doctrine of equivalents and upheld the 434 patent's validity over obviousness and anticipation challenges. The court invalidated the 414 patent under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) as known and used by others in the U.S. before the date of invention. The Federal Circuit affirmed. There is not enough evidence to conclude that UCB surrendered polyisobutylene as a possible equivalent; UCB’s claiming of acrylates and silicates does not bar treating polyisobutylenes as an equivalent for infringement purposes and vitiation does not bar application of the doctrine of equivalents here. Actavis offers no examples of prior art that would be ensnared by the addition of polyisobutylene to the claim, in contrast to the claim as is. The court upheld fact findings as to polyisobutylene’s characteristics as compared to silicates and acrylates and as to what a skilled artisan would have known about the interchangeability of polyisobutylene-based adhesives and silicone-based adhesives and the conclusion that the accused products infringe the claims under the doctrine of equivalents. View "UCB, Inc. v. Watson Laboratories Inc." on Justia Law

NOVA challenged a 2017 Veterans Administration (VA) amendment to 38 C.F.R. 3.321(b)(1), confining the preexisting regulation (as interpreted by a 2014 Federal Circuit ruling) and authorizing the VA “[t]o accord justice to the exceptional case where the schedular evaluation is inadequate to rate a single service-connected disability,” by adopting “an extra-schedular evaluation commensurate with the average impairment of earning capacity due exclusively to the disability.” The regulation does not permit the VA to award extra-schedular disability compensation by considering the synergistic impact of multiple disabilities together. The Federal Circuit upheld the regulation. The VA’s explanation for the change was adequate; the regulation is not on its face arbitrary and capricious. It does not limit “extraschedular rating to a single service-connected disability” but provides for combining multiple disabilities, but not in the manner opponents prefer. The VA explained that the amendment is consistent with the agency’s historical interpretation of the regulation and its predecessors. The VA reasonably concluded that determination of an extra-schedular rating with respect to a single disability is likely to result in a more logical and consistent system of extra-schedular rating than one in which the decision-maker must determine on an ad hoc basis whether extra-schedular rating is appropriate for the synergistic effect of combined disabilities. View "National Organization of Veterans' Advocates, Inc. v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs" on Justia Law

Mayne’s 745 patent discloses and claims pharmaceutical compositions of azole antifungal drugs that are practically insoluble in aqueous media. The patent explains that insoluble drugs are difficult to formulate into dosage forms because of their low absorption and poor bioavailability and purports to provide a pharmaceutical composition addressing these shortcomings. On MSD’s petition, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board initiated inter partes review and found several claims unpatentable as anticipated or obvious, 35 U.S.C. 103 The Federal Circuit affirmed, upholding the Board’s decision to permit MSD’s amendment, finding no indication of intentional concealment, no bad faith on MSD’s part, no attempt to circumvent the estoppel rules, or any other material benefit to it in its delay in naming MCI as a real party in interest. The Board did not err in its constructions of either “pharmaceutical composition” or the “wherein” clauses; under the Board’s constructions, the claims are obvious or anticipated View "Mayne Pharma International Pty. Ltd. v. Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp." on Justia Law

Activision sought inter partes review of GAT’s 743 patent, entitled “Method and System for Providing Character Having Game Item Functions,” which relates to the field of customizing Internet game characters in online games by combining game items with layers of an avatar in the game and discloses a method and system for providing “game item[s]” to Internet game characters and generating a type of avatar the patent refers to as a “gamvatar” that is equipped with particular game items. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board concluded that the challenged claims were “obvious based on the combined teachings” of the prior art references. The Federal Circuit affirmed. The Board properly determined that the gamvatar of the 743 patent is a combination of the conventional avatar with the game item function, rather than a combination of a conventional gamvatar with a game item function, as suggested by GAT and construed the term “layers” to mean that “‘layers’ encompasses ‘graphics regions for displaying graphical objects’ and ‘constructs for holding graphics.’” Substantial evidence supported findings of obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103. View "Game and Technology Co., Ltd. v. Activision Blizzard Inc." on Justia Law

In 2016, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued its final determination in its investigation into whether the Korean government had provided, to Korean producers and exporters of certain corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE), subsidies warranting the imposition of countervailing duties on the products when imported into the United States. Nucor and other U.S. CORE producers, which had requested the investigation, alleged that the Korean government had provided subsidies through its sale of electricity to Korean CORE producers. Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) as the seller of electricity to users in Korea, including the CORE producers at issue. The Korean government owns and controls KEPCO, including regulating KEPCO’s prices. Only a minimal amount of electricity is supplied directly to consumers on a localized basis by independent power producers. Commerce found no such electricity-sale subsidy while finding some other subsidies. The Court of International Trade affirmed as to electricity sales. The Federal Circuit affirmed. Commerce’s decision is with the statute because Commerce found not only that KEPCO’s pricing was non-discriminatory but also that the pricing ensured cost recovery. View "Nucor Corp. v. United States" on Justia Law

Shea began serving in the Air Force in October 2006. Her pre-enlistment examination indicated a normal psychiatric condition. A January 2007 medical examination resulted in a diagnosis of an adjustment disorder with anxiety and depressed mood. Days later, Shea was struck by a truck while on base and sustained multiple physical injuries. Her subsequent medical records report anxiety, depression, and impaired memory. A medical evaluation board recommended that Shea be discharged. Shea was transferred to Dover Air Force Base, where her then-husband was stationed, to continue her treatment. A physical evaluation board determined in May 2007 that Shea’s pelvic fractures and transverse process fracture were unfitting conditions that were compensable and ratable but that her adjustment disorder with depression and anxiety was not separately unfitting nor compensable or ratable. In July 2007, Shea was discharged because of her physical disabilities. She sought benefits in October 2007. The VA granted benefits for her physical and psychiatric conditions, but rejected a request for a 2007 effective date for the psychiatric-disability benefits. The Veterans Court affirmed. The Federal Circuit vacated and remanded to allow the Veterans Court to articulate the correct legal standard in considering Shea’s October 2007 informal application for benefits. While a pro se claimant "must identify the benefit sought,” the identification need not be explicit and should be read in conjunction with other submissions and service treatment records. View "Shea v. Wilkie" on Justia Law

Hyosung and Diebold manufacture and sell ATMs. Diebold filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission claiming that Hyosung’s imported ATMs infringe its 616 and 631 patents and their importation violates 19 U.S.C. 1337(a)(1)(B). The 616 patent claims an ATM rollout tray that allows for easier servicing of its internal components. The 631 patent relates to a particular method for reading magnetic ink character recognition data on checks (e.g., ink used for the account and routing numbers) that are inserted into an ATM regardless of their width or orientation. The ITC concluded that Hyosung’s accused products infringed both patents; that the asserted claims were not invalid; and that the domestic industry requirement was met for both patents; it entered a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against Hyosung. Hyosung redesigned its products to avoid infringing the 616 patent and sought an administrative ruling by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Customs concluded that the newly redesigned products did not infringe and were therefore not covered by the ITC’s limited exclusion order. The Federal Circuit affirmed as to the 631 patent and concluded that the appeal was moot as to the 616 patent, which has expired, so the ITC’s orders as to that patent have no prospective effect. View "Hyosung TNS Inc. v. International Trade Commission" on Justia Law