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

The case involves a dispute over a trademark application for "COLOGNE & COGNAC ENTERTAINMENT" by a hip-hop record label. The appellants, Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac and Institut National des Appellations d’Origine, are responsible for controlling and protecting the certification mark "COGNAC" for brandy from the Cognac region of France. They opposed the trademark application, arguing that it would likely cause confusion and dilute their certification mark.The United States Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board dismissed the opposition. The Board found that the "COLOGNE & COGNAC ENTERTAINMENT" mark, when used for hip-hop music and production services, was not likely to cause confusion or dilute the "COGNAC" certification mark. The Board concluded that the marks were dissimilar in connotation and commercial impression, and that the relevant goods, services, trade channels, and purchasers did not overlap. The Board also found that the appellants had not proven the fame of the "COGNAC" mark for purposes of dilution.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the Board's decision. The court found that the Board applied an incorrect legal standard for determining the fame of the "COGNAC" mark and improperly discounted relevant evidence. The court also found that the Board erred in its analysis of the similarity of the marks and the relatedness of the goods, services, and trade channels. Additionally, the court concluded that the appellants had sufficiently pleaded their dilution claim. The case was remanded for reconsideration of the likelihood of confusion and dilution issues. View "BUREAU NATIONAL INTERPROFESSIONNEL DU COGNAC v. COLOGNE & COGNAC ENTERTAINMENT" on Justia Law

Eric Mote, a former Captain in the United States Air Force, sought the removal of a Letter of Admonishment (LOA) and a Non-Judicial Punishment (NJP) from his military records, along with back pay for the fine associated with the NJP. The LOA and NJP were issued following Mote's repeated requests for a "White Heritage Month" at Hill Air Force Base, which were denied by his superiors. Mote's subsequent communications, which were deemed disrespectful, led to the LOA and NJP.The United States Court of Federal Claims reviewed Mote's case and granted judgment on the administrative record in favor of the government, upholding the decision of the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records (AFBCMR). The Claims Court found that the AFBCMR's decision was supported by substantial evidence and was not arbitrary or capricious. The court also held that the LOA and NJP were not illegal reprisals.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case and affirmed the Claims Court's decision regarding the NJP, finding that the AFBCMR's conclusions were supported by substantial evidence. However, the appellate court vacated the portion of the Claims Court's decision that reviewed the LOA and remanded the case for a determination of whether the Claims Court had jurisdiction over the LOA claim under the Tucker Act. The appellate court emphasized that the Claims Court's jurisdiction to grant non-monetary relief is limited to cases where such relief is incident to a money judgment. View "MOTE v. US " on Justia Law

Voice Tech Corporation owned U.S. Patent No. 10,491,679, which relates to using voice commands on a mobile device to remotely access and control a computer. Unified Patents, LLC petitioned for inter partes review (IPR) of claims 1–8 of the patent, arguing they were unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103 for obviousness. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) found all challenged claims unpatentable based on prior art references Wong and Beauregard.The Board's decision was appealed by Voice Tech. The Board had previously determined that the combination of Wong and Beauregard disclosed all the limitations of the challenged claims, including the "audio command interface" and "mobile device interface." Voice Tech argued that the Board misinterpreted these terms and that the prior art did not teach the claimed limitations. The Board, however, found that Wong’s speech recognition engine and Beauregard’s command interpreter taught the necessary elements.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case. The court held that Voice Tech did not forfeit its claim construction arguments by not raising them in its request for rehearing. However, the court found that the Board's constructions and findings were supported by substantial evidence. The court agreed with the Board that the prior art disclosed the "receiving," "decodes," and "deciding/selecting" limitations of the claims. The court also rejected Voice Tech's argument that the Board's decision was based on hindsight bias, finding that the Board had properly considered the motivation to combine the prior art references.The Federal Circuit affirmed the Board's decision, holding that all challenged claims of the '679 patent were unpatentable as obvious over the prior art. View "VOICE TECH CORP. v. UNIFIED PATENTS, LLC " on Justia Law

Norah R. Lewis, Sr., a U.S. Army veteran, had his disability rating for PTSD increased from 30 percent to 70 percent in 2009. However, in 2016, the VA Regional Office (RO) reduced his rating back to 30 percent, citing evidence from a 2015 VA examination and outpatient treatment records. Mr. Lewis appealed this decision, arguing that the reduction was improper.The Board of Veterans’ Appeals initially sustained the RO's decision in 2018, but the Veterans Court vacated and remanded the case, requiring the Board to address favorable evidence. The Board issued a second decision in 2019, which was again vacated and remanded by the Veterans Court for failing to comply with the prior remand order. On the second remand, Mr. Lewis argued that the 2016 rating decision was void ab initio because the RO did not make a required finding under 38 C.F.R. § 3.344(a) that the improvement in his condition would be maintained under ordinary conditions of life.The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims affirmed the Board's March 2021 decision, which had found that Mr. Lewis’s PTSD had materially improved and that the improvement was likely to be maintained under ordinary conditions of life. The Veterans Court held that the RO was not required to make specific findings in its initial decision, as long as the Board made the necessary findings on appeal.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Veterans Court's decision. The Federal Circuit held that while the RO failed to make the required findings under 38 C.F.R. § 3.344(a) in its initial decision, the Board's subsequent findings cured this deficiency. The Board's de novo review and ultimate decision on Mr. Lewis’s disability rating were consistent with its role in the statutory scheme, satisfying the VA’s duty to follow procedural protections for rating reductions. View "LEWIS v. MCDONOUGH " on Justia Law

Sanho Corporation appealed a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that found all challenged claims of U.S. Patent No. 10,572,429 unpatentable as obvious. The PTAB's decision relied on U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0165053 (Kuo) as prior art. Sanho argued that Kuo should not be considered prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)(2)(B) because the inventor of the '429 patent had publicly disclosed the relevant subject matter before Kuo's effective filing date through the private sale of a product called HyperDrive.The PTAB concluded that the private sale of the HyperDrive did not qualify as a public disclosure under § 102(b)(2)(B), and therefore, Kuo was considered prior art. The PTAB found that Sanho failed to show that the inventor publicly disclosed the subject matter of Kuo before Kuo's effective filing date. Consequently, the PTAB determined that all challenged claims of the '429 patent were unpatentable as obvious based on combinations that included Kuo.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the PTAB's decision. The court held that the private sale of the HyperDrive did not constitute a public disclosure under § 102(b)(2)(B). The court reasoned that the term "publicly disclosed" in the statute requires that the invention be made available to the public, which was not the case with the private sale between the inventor and Sanho. The court affirmed the PTAB's decision, concluding that Kuo was prior art and that the challenged claims of the '429 patent were unpatentable as obvious. View "SANHO CORP. v. KAIJET TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, INC. " on Justia Law

The United States Capitol Police (USCP) faced allegations of unfair labor practices after it suspended its collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the Fraternal Order of Police due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The USCP argued that the suspension was necessary to quickly implement changes to protect its workforce. The Union contended that the USCP failed to provide proper notice and did not negotiate the changes, violating the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (FSLMRS).The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (OCWR) General Counsel filed a complaint against the USCP, and a hearing officer granted summary judgment in favor of the General Counsel and the Union. The hearing officer found that the USCP committed unfair labor practices by suspending the CBA, failing to reinstate non-interfering provisions, and not bargaining over changes to employment conditions. The USCP appealed to the OCWR Board of Directors, which affirmed the hearing officer's decision in part, concluding that the USCP did not provide the Union with specific and definitive notice of the changes.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case and found that genuine issues of material fact precluded the grant of summary judgment. The court noted that it was unclear which changes listed in the Hoyer Letter were subject to bargaining and whether the Union had adequate notice of these changes. The court emphasized that not all changes mentioned in the letter necessarily constituted changes in conditions of employment. Additionally, there was evidence suggesting that the USCP and the Union communicated regularly about the COVID-19 response, which could indicate that the Union had sufficient notice.The Federal Circuit reversed the Board's decision to grant summary judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings to determine the specific changes that required bargaining and whether the Union received adequate notice. View "UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE v. OCWR " on Justia Law

SoftView LLC appealed a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) regarding the invalidation of all claims of its U.S. Patent No. 7,461,353. The PTAB's decision was based on a prior inter partes review (IPR) proceeding that found the claims invalid under the estoppel provision in 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(d)(3)(i). SoftView argued that the PTAB misinterpreted the regulation, that the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) lacked statutory authority to issue such a regulation, and that the regulation should not apply to already issued claims.The PTAB had previously stayed reexamination proceedings pending the outcome of the IPR. After the IPR invalidated 18 claims, the PTAB lifted the stay and resumed reexamination. The PTAB found most claims unpatentable over prior art but reversed the examiner's obviousness rejections. Instead, it applied the estoppel provision to invalidate all claims, including amended and previously issued claims, reasoning that they were not patentably distinct from the canceled claims.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the validity of the regulation and its estoppel standard but agreed with SoftView that the regulation applies only to new or amended claims, not to previously issued claims. The court affirmed the PTAB's application of the regulation to the amended claims, finding them not patentably distinct from the canceled claims. However, it vacated the PTAB's decision regarding the previously issued claims, as the regulation does not apply to maintaining existing claims.The court concluded that the PTO had the authority under 35 U.S.C. § 316(a)(4) to issue the regulation, which governs the relationship of IPR to other proceedings. The case was affirmed in part and vacated and remanded in part for further consideration of the issued claims. View "SOFTVIEW LLC v. APPLE INC. " on Justia Law

The case involves an inter partes review (IPR) proceeding concerning U.S. Patent No. 8,265,096, which relates to methods for constructing frame structures in orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) systems. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) found claims 1–4, 6, and 7 of the patent unpatentable as obvious but did not find claim 8 unpatentable. The PTAB also granted the patentee's motion to amend, canceling claims 1–4, 6, and 7 and substituting them with new claims 44–47, 49, and 50.The PTAB's decision was appealed by ZyXEL Communications Corp., which contested the finding that claim 8 was not obvious and the decision to grant the motion to amend. UNM Rainforest Innovations (UNMRI) cross-appealed the finding that claims 1–4, 6, and 7 were unpatentable. The PTAB had found that the combination of prior art references Talukdar and Li rendered claims 1–4, 6, and 7 obvious but did not find a motivation to combine Talukdar and Nystrom to render claim 8 obvious.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB's determination that claims 1–4, 6, and 7 were unpatentable as obvious. The court found substantial evidence supporting the PTAB's conclusion that a person of ordinary skill in the art would combine Talukdar and Li. However, the court reversed the PTAB's decision regarding claim 8, concluding that the combination of Talukdar and Nystrom would render claim 8 obvious.The court also affirmed the PTAB's decision to grant UNMRI's motion to amend, finding no procedural error in allowing UNMRI to supplement its motion with a reply brief. The court remanded the case to the PTAB to determine if the substitute claims are unpatentable as obvious under collateral estoppel based on the court's holding that claims 1–4 and 6–8 are unpatentable as obvious. The PTAB was also instructed to consider whether to evaluate the substitute claims' obviousness on a new ground. View "ZYXEL COMMUNICATIONS CORP. v. UNM RAINFOREST INNOVATIONS " on Justia Law

Koss Corporation (Koss) owns several patents related to wireless earphones. Koss filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Bose Corporation (Bose) in the Western District of Texas, alleging infringement of three patents. Bose challenged the venue and also filed for inter partes review (IPR) of the patents with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Concurrently, Bose sought a declaratory judgment of noninfringement in the District of Massachusetts. The Texas court dismissed Koss's case for improper venue, leading Koss to file counterclaims in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts court stayed the case pending the IPR outcomes.In parallel, Koss's infringement action against Plantronics, Inc. was transferred to the Northern District of California. Plantronics moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the patents were invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The California court agreed, invalidating all claims of the patents. Koss amended its complaint but eventually stipulated to dismiss the case with prejudice, without appealing the invalidation order.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the PTAB's decisions on the IPRs. However, since the California court had already invalidated all claims of the patents and Koss did not appeal this decision, the Federal Circuit found the appeals moot. The court held that the invalidation order from the California court was final and precluded any further action on the patents, leading to the dismissal of the appeals. View "KOSS CORPORATION v. BOSE CORPORATION " on Justia Law

Miller Mendel, Inc. sued the City of Anna, Texas, alleging that the City’s use of the Guardian Alliance Technologies software platform infringed claims 1, 5, and 15 of U.S. Patent No. 10,043,188, which relates to a software system for managing pre-employment background investigations. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted the City’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, concluding that the asserted claims do not claim patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The district court also denied the City’s motion for attorneys’ fees.The district court found that the claims were directed to the abstract idea of performing a background check and did not contain an inventive concept that would transform the abstract idea into a patent-eligible application. Miller Mendel’s motion for reconsideration was denied, with the court clarifying that its decision only invalidated claims 1, 5, and 15. The City’s motion for attorneys’ fees was denied on the grounds that the case was not exceptional.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case and affirmed the district court’s decision. The Federal Circuit agreed that the claims were directed to an abstract idea and lacked an inventive concept. The court also upheld the district court’s decision to limit its invalidity finding to claims 1, 5, and 15, as Miller Mendel had narrowed the scope of the asserted claims before the court ruled on the motion. Additionally, the Federal Circuit found no abuse of discretion in the district court’s denial of attorneys’ fees, concluding that Miller Mendel’s litigation conduct did not make the case exceptional. View "MILLER MENDEL, INC. v. CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS " on Justia Law