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

Causam Enterprises, Inc. owns several patents related to “demand response” technology, which allows electrical utilities to reduce power demand in response to certain conditions. Causam filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC), alleging that Resideo Smart Homes Technology (Tianjin) and its affiliate Ademco, Inc. were importing and selling internet-connected smart thermostats that infringed method claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 10,394,268, which Causam claimed to own. Causam sought to exclude these products from importation. During the ITC investigation, respondents argued that Causam did not own the patent and that Resideo’s products did not infringe the asserted claims.The assigned administrative law judge (ALJ) at the ITC found that Causam did not own the ’268 patent and that Resideo’s products did not infringe the claims. The full Commission, upon review, adopted only the noninfringement finding and did not address the ownership issue. Causam appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, challenging the noninfringement determination and seeking a ruling on ownership. Meanwhile, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) held, in a separate inter partes review, that claim 1 of the ’268 patent was unpatentable, and the Federal Circuit affirmed that decision in a companion case.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that Causam owns the ’268 patent, interpreting the relevant assignment agreements to exclude continuations-in-part from a prior assignment, thus leaving ownership with Causam. However, the court did not reach the noninfringement issue because its affirmance of the PTAB’s finding that claim 1 is unpatentable rendered the appeal moot. The court therefore dismissed the appeal as moot. View "CAUSAM ENTERPRISES, INC. v. ITC " on Justia Law

Petitioners representing domestic honey producers requested that the U.S. Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission investigate whether raw honey imported from Vietnam and other countries was being sold in the United States at less than fair value, causing material injury to the domestic industry. During the investigation, both agencies made affirmative preliminary and final determinations supporting the imposition of antidumping duties. The agencies also found “critical circumstances,” meaning there was a surge of imports after the petition was filed but before the preliminary determination, which could undermine the effectiveness of any eventual duties. As a result, the suspension of liquidation and the imposition of duties were backdated by 90 days to cover these imports.The importers of Vietnamese honey and their trade association challenged the Commission’s final determination of critical circumstances in the United States Court of International Trade. They argued that the Commission improperly focused on the period before the antidumping duty order was issued, rather than considering whether the import surge would undermine the remedial effect of the order after its issuance. The Trade Court rejected this argument, upholding the Commission’s determination as both lawful and supported by substantial evidence.On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the Trade Court’s decision de novo, applying the same standard. The Federal Circuit held that the statute does not require the Commission to focus solely on the period after the antidumping duty order is issued. Instead, the relevant inquiry is whether the surge of imports before the preliminary determination is likely to undermine the remedial effect of the order, starting from the suspension date. The court also found that the Commission’s findings were supported by substantial evidence. Accordingly, the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision of the Court of International Trade. View "SWEET HARVEST FOODS v. US " on Justia Law

Causam Enterprises, Inc. owns a patent related to methods for managing electric power flow within a grid, specifically focusing on demand response load management, where utilities can control customer appliances to reduce power consumption during peak periods. Ecobee Technologies ULC filed a petition for inter partes review (IPR) with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, challenging all but one claim of the patent on grounds of obviousness, citing prior art references. Causam did not dispute its ownership of the patent in the IPR, though ownership had been contested by ecobee in a separate International Trade Commission (ITC) proceeding.The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) instituted the IPR and ultimately found all challenged claims unpatentable for obviousness, determining that ecobee had properly served the patent owner of record, Causam, and that the statutory requirements for institution were met. The Board also construed a key claim limitation to include both actual measurements and estimates of power savings, rejecting Causam’s narrower interpretation. The Director of the PTO denied further review, and Causam appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.The Federal Circuit first determined that Causam had constitutional standing to appeal, based on its status as the assignee of record and its unequivocal assertion of ownership. The court rejected Causam’s argument that the Board’s failure to resolve ownership denied due process to a potential third-party owner, holding that Causam could not assert the constitutional rights of others. On the merits, the court upheld the Board’s claim construction and its finding of obviousness, concluding that the Board committed no reversible error. The Federal Circuit affirmed the Board’s decision, leaving the challenged patent claims unpatentable. View "CAUSAM ENTERPRISES, INC. v. ECOBEE TECHNOLOGIES ULC " on Justia Law

A former federal employee retired before age sixty-two and began receiving an annuity supplement under the Federal Employees’ Retirement System Act (FERS). Years earlier, a Colorado state court had issued a divorce decree awarding his ex-wife a pro rata share of his “gross monthly annuity” and any benefit earned from his special service, but the decree did not specifically mention the annuity supplement. For nearly thirty years, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) only divided the annuity supplement between former spouses if a court order expressly required it. In 2016, OPM changed its policy, deciding that if a court order divided the basic annuity, the annuity supplement would also be divided in the same way, even if the order was silent on the supplement. OPM applied this new interpretation retroactively, resulting in a demand that the retiree pay his ex-wife nearly $25,000.The retiree challenged OPM’s decision before the Merit Systems Protection Board. The Board’s administrative judge found that OPM could only divide the annuity supplement if a court order expressly provided for such division. The Board affirmed this decision, rejecting OPM’s new interpretation. OPM then sought review from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that, under 5 U.S.C. §§ 8421(c) and 8467(a), OPM may apportion a federal retiree’s annuity supplement to a former spouse only when a court order expressly provides for such division. The court reasoned that the statutory text, structure, and history require the annuity supplement to be treated in the same way as the basic annuity, which is only divided if expressly ordered by a court. The court affirmed the Board’s decision. View "OPM v. MOULTON " on Justia Law

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd., an Indian manufacturer, was subject to a countervailing duty investigation initiated by the U.S. Department of Commerce after Daikin America, Inc., a U.S. producer, filed petitions regarding imports of granular polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin from India and Russia. During the period of investigation, Gujarat purchased wind energy from Inox Wind Limited, a cross-owned Indian company that had received a subsidized land lease from the Indian government. Inox sold all its wind energy to Gujarat, which was used at Gujarat’s production facility to manufacture PTFE resin and other products. The wind energy from Inox represented a small fraction of the total energy consumed at the facility.Commerce determined that the subsidy received by Inox should be attributed to Gujarat under the cross-ownership regulation at 19 C.F.R. § 351.525(b)(6)(iv), resulting in a significant portion of the countervailing duty rate assessed against Gujarat. Commerce reasoned that because all of Inox’s wind energy was supplied to Gujarat, the input was “primarily dedicated” to Gujarat’s downstream production. Gujarat challenged this determination before the United States Court of International Trade, arguing that Commerce misapplied the “primarily dedicated” standard. The Trade Court agreed, finding that the regulation required more than mere consumption of the input by the downstream producer and that the facts did not support attributing the subsidy under the cross-ownership provision. The Trade Court ordered Commerce to remove the portion of the duty rate based on this attribution, and Commerce complied under protest.On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trade Court’s judgment. The Federal Circuit held that the cross-ownership regulation does not apply solely because the downstream producer is the sole consumer of the input. Instead, the regulation requires a fact-specific inquiry into whether the input’s production is primarily dedicated to the downstream product, as reflected in the regulatory history and examples. The court affirmed the removal of the subsidy attribution and the adjusted duty rate. View "GUJARAT FLUOROCHEMICALS LTD. v. US " on Justia Law

The case concerns an antidumping duty investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce into certain carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate from Germany. The Department selected a German steel producer as a mandatory respondent and required it to provide detailed information about its products and production costs. The producer requested that Commerce modify its model-match methodology to recognize certain steel products—specifically, “sour service” steel used for petroleum transport and pressure vessels—as distinct categories due to their unique properties and higher production costs. Commerce rejected these requests, finding one untimely and the other unsupported. Additionally, the producer was unable to provide product-specific cost data for non-prime steel plate, which is sold as “odds and ends,” and instead reported average costs. Commerce, however, used the likely selling price of non-prime plate as a proxy for its cost of production.The U.S. Court of International Trade reviewed Commerce’s determinations multiple times. It affirmed Commerce’s rejection of the proposed new product category for sour pressure vessel plate as untimely, but required Commerce to reconsider its approach to the cost of production for non-prime plate, citing precedent that actual cost data, not likely selling price, should be used. On remand, Commerce maintained its use of likely selling price as facts otherwise available, and the Trade Court ultimately sustained this approach, while also instructing Commerce to accept the new category for sour transport plate in light of analogous precedent.On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trade Court’s decision to uphold Commerce’s rejection of the untimely model-match proposal for sour pressure vessel plate. However, the Federal Circuit held that it was unreasonable for Commerce to use likely selling price as facts otherwise available for cost of production, as this methodology does not reasonably reflect actual production costs. The court vacated the Trade Court’s decision on this issue and remanded for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. View "AG DER DILLINGER HUTTENWERKE v. US " on Justia Law

Two advocacy organizations submitted a petition to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) seeking a rule that would limit the PTO’s discretion to institute inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR) proceedings under the America Invents Act. Their proposed rule would have prevented institution of such proceedings in certain circumstances when the patent owner objected and met specific criteria, such as being the original applicant and having small entity status. The PTO denied the petition, stating that the issues overlapped with topics already under consideration in a separate request for public comment and that the suggestions would be considered in any future rulemaking.After the denial, the organizations filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the PTO’s denial violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the America Invents Act. They argued that the PTO failed to act within a reasonable time, did not provide adequate reasons for denial, and was required to engage in notice-and-comment rulemaking. The PTO moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of standing. The district court granted the motion, finding that the organizations lacked both organizational and associational standing because they failed to show that any member faced a concrete, non-speculative injury as a result of the PTO’s denial.On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the dismissal de novo. The court held that the organizations lacked associational standing because they did not demonstrate that any member suffered an actual or imminent injury traceable to the PTO’s denial of the petition. The court found the alleged injury too speculative, relying on a chain of uncertain future events involving third-party actions. The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal for lack of standing. View "US INVENTOR, INC. v. PTO " on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, which are self-insured health and welfare trust funds, challenged a statutory requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that obligated them to pay contributions to the Transitional Reinsurance Program (TRP) for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 benefit years. They argued that these mandatory payments constituted a taking of their property under the Fifth Amendment, claiming a protected property interest in the specific funds held in their trust accounts, which are maintained solely for providing health and welfare benefits to covered individuals.The United States Court of Federal Claims reviewed the case and granted the Government’s motion for partial summary judgment on the Fifth Amendment takings claim. The Claims Court found that the plaintiffs did not possess a cognizable property interest in the TRP payments, as the obligation was merely to pay money, not to surrender specifically identifiable funds. The court rejected the argument that the trust agreements created a property interest in the sums paid, and also dismissed the alternative claim that the trust accounts themselves were the specific funds at issue. The Claims Court further held that a taking would only occur if the government appropriated the entire fund, which did not happen here. Plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration was denied.On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the grant of summary judgment de novo. The Federal Circuit affirmed the Claims Court’s decision, holding that the statutory obligation to pay TRP contributions did not constitute a taking under the Fifth Amendment because it was an obligation to pay money, not an appropriation of a specific, identifiable fund. The court clarified that a mere requirement to pay money, even from a trust account, does not give rise to a takings claim. The Federal Circuit also found harmless error in the Claims Court’s alternative reasoning regarding appropriation of funds in toto. The judgment was affirmed. View "ELECTRICAL WELFARE TRUST FUND v. US " on Justia Law

Rex Medical, L.P. and Intuitive Surgical, Inc. are competitors in the medical device industry, specifically in the market for surgical stapling products. Rex accused Intuitive of infringing U.S. Patent No. 9,439,650, which covers a system for stapling tissue during surgery. The accused products included several models of Intuitive’s SureForm staplers. Rex initially asserted two patents, but after Intuitive challenged one in an inter partes review, Rex withdrew it, leaving only the ’650 patent at issue. The dispute centered on claim 6 of the ’650 patent, which describes a stapling apparatus with specific structural features.The United States District Court for the District of Delaware presided over the case. Before trial, the court excluded Rex’s damages expert from testifying about a prior license agreement, finding the expert failed to apportion the value of the asserted patent from other patents in the agreement. At trial, neither party’s damages expert testified, and Rex relied on lay testimony regarding damages. The jury found Intuitive infringed claim 6 and that the claim was not invalid, awarding Rex $10 million in damages. After post-trial motions, the district court entered judgment for Rex on infringement and validity but reduced the damages award to $1, finding insufficient evidence to support the jury’s damages calculation and denying Rex’s request for a new trial on damages.On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s rulings. The Federal Circuit held that the exclusion of Rex’s damages expert was proper because the expert did not adequately apportion the value of the asserted patent. The court also affirmed the reduction of damages to $1, finding the record lacked sufficient evidence for the jury to reasonably determine damages for the ’650 patent alone. The Federal Circuit further affirmed the district court’s findings on infringement and validity, rejecting Intuitive’s arguments regarding claim construction and written description. View "REX MEDICAL, L.P. v. INTUITIVE SURGICAL, INC. " on Justia Law

The dispute centers on allegations of intellectual property infringement involving shower curtains designed with embedded rings, eliminating the need for traditional hooks. The plaintiffs, a group of related companies, own several patents covering these “hookless” shower curtains, as well as registered and unregistered trademark and trade dress rights. The defendants, two companies that manufactured and sold similar shower curtains, were accused of infringing these patents, trademarks, and trade dress. The accused products featured rings with a flat upper edge and a slit, allowing the curtain to be attached to a rod without hooks.In the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the defendants’ motion to transfer venue was denied as untimely. The district court granted summary judgment of patent infringement in favor of the plaintiffs, based on its claim constructions, and precluded the defendants’ unclean hands defense for being raised too late. After a bench trial, the court found that the defendants infringed the asserted patents, the HOOKLESS® and EZ ON trademarks, and the claimed trade dress, and that some infringement was willful. The court awarded lost profits, reasonable royalties, attorneys’ fees, and costs.On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the denial of the venue transfer and the exclusion of the unclean hands defense. However, it reversed the findings of infringement for the ’248 and ’609 patents as to one defendant, vacated the ’088 patent infringement finding as to that defendant, and affirmed the patent infringement findings as to the other. The court also vacated the trade dress infringement and willfulness findings, reversed the EZ ON trademark infringement finding, and vacated the HOOKLESS® trademark infringement finding. The award of attorneys’ fees was vacated, and the case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with these rulings. The court clarified the standards for claim construction, trade dress functionality, and standing to assert trademark rights. View "Focus Products Group International, LLC v. Kartri Sales Co." on Justia Law