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

The case involves a bid protest action initiated by Oak Grove Technologies, LLC against the United States Department of the Army's award of a contract to F3EA, Inc. The contract, known as SOF RAPTOR IV, was for procuring training services for special forces. Oak Grove, a competing bidder, alleged that the bidding process was flawed and that F3EA had an unfair advantage due to an organizational conflict of interest involving the chairperson of the Source Selection Evaluation Board (SSEB), RM.The Court of Federal Claims reviewed the case and agreed with Oak Grove, finding that the Army's evaluation process was flawed. The court enjoined the Army from proceeding with the contract award to F3EA and ordered the Army to either restart the procurement process or reopen it to accept revised proposals. The court also sanctioned the government for failing to include material evidence in the administrative record, which delayed the proceedings and increased costs for Oak Grove.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case and vacated the judgment and injunction issued by the Court of Federal Claims. The appellate court held that Oak Grove had waived its argument that the Army was required to hold discussions with bidders, that F3EA was not required to include teaming agreements in its proposal, and that the Army's investigation into RM's alleged misconduct was adequate. The court also found that the Court of Federal Claims erred in determining that Lukos, another bidder, was financially irresponsible and ineligible for the contract. However, the appellate court affirmed the sanctions imposed on the government for failing to compile a complete administrative record. The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the appellate court's opinion. View "OAK GROVE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC v. US " on Justia Law

Contour IP Holding LLC sued GoPro, Inc. for patent infringement, alleging that GoPro's point-of-view digital video cameras infringed on Contour's patents, specifically U.S. Patent Nos. 8,890,954 and 8,896,694. These patents relate to portable, point-of-view video cameras designed for hands-free use, with features allowing remote image acquisition control and viewing. The patents describe a system where the camera generates high and low-quality video streams in parallel, with the low-quality stream being wirelessly transmitted to a remote device for real-time viewing and adjustment.The United States District Court for the Northern District of California initially construed the term "generate" in the patents to mean "record in parallel from the video image data." Later, GoPro moved for summary judgment, arguing that the claims were patent ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The district court agreed, finding that the claims were directed to the abstract idea of creating and transmitting video at different resolutions and adjusting the video’s settings remotely. The court concluded that the claims did not include an inventive concept sufficient to transform the abstract idea into a patent-eligible application and entered judgment against Contour.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case and reversed the district court's decision. The Federal Circuit held that the claims were not directed to an abstract idea but to a specific technological improvement in POV camera technology. The court found that the claims described a specific means of generating high and low-quality video streams in parallel and wirelessly transmitting the low-quality stream to a remote device, which provided a technological solution to a technological problem. Therefore, the claims were patent eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The case was remanded for further proceedings. View "CONTOUR IP HOLDING LLC v. GOPRO, INC. " on Justia Law

ParkerVision, Inc. sued Qualcomm Inc. in 2014, alleging infringement of patents related to wireless communications technology. This followed a 2011 lawsuit where ParkerVision claimed Qualcomm infringed on different but related patents. In the 2011 case, the court granted judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) of non-infringement, which was affirmed on appeal. In the 2014 case, the district court granted Qualcomm’s motion for summary judgment of non-infringement based on collateral estoppel from the 2011 case and excluded certain expert testimonies from ParkerVision.The district court for the Middle District of Florida granted Qualcomm’s motions, concluding that the claims in the 2014 case were materially similar to those in the 2011 case, thus applying collateral estoppel. The court also excluded ParkerVision’s expert testimonies on validity and infringement, deeming them unreliable due to a lack of testing and simulation.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case. It vacated the summary judgment of non-infringement, finding that the district court erred by not conducting a proper claim construction to determine if the claims in the 2014 case were materially different from those in the 2011 case. The appellate court also reversed the exclusion of ParkerVision’s expert testimonies, ruling that the district court improperly required testing and simulation for the expert opinions to be considered reliable. The case was remanded for further proceedings to determine the proper scope of the claims and whether the differences in the claims would materially alter the question of infringement. View "PARKERVISION, INC. v. QUALCOMM INCORPORATED " on Justia Law

Osseo Imaging, LLC sued Planmeca USA Inc. for patent infringement, alleging that Planmeca's ProMax 3D imaging systems infringed on Osseo's U.S. Patent Nos. 6,381,301, 6,944,262, and 8,498,374. These patents relate to orthopedic imaging systems that use X-ray beam techniques to create tomographic and/or densitometric models. The jury found that Planmeca infringed the asserted claims and that the claims were not invalid for obviousness.The United States District Court for the District of Delaware denied Planmeca's motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) on both noninfringement and invalidity. Planmeca argued that Osseo's expert, Dr. Omid Kia, was not qualified to testify because he did not have the requisite experience at the time of the patents' invention. The district court rejected this argument, stating that there is no legal requirement for an expert to have acquired their expertise before the patent's effective date. The court also found that substantial evidence supported the jury's verdict.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case and affirmed the district court's decision. The appellate court held that Dr. Kia's testimony was admissible and that there is no requirement for an expert to have the requisite skill at the time of the invention. The court found that substantial evidence supported the jury's findings of infringement and nonobviousness. Specifically, the court noted that the evidence showed Planmeca's systems calculated Hounsfield Unit values representing bone density, merged information from multiple tomographic scans, and facilitated the comparison of densitometry models. The court also upheld the jury's finding that it would not have been obvious to combine the prior art references cited by Planmeca. Thus, the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of JMOL on all issues. View "OSSEO IMAGING, LLC v. PLANMECA USA INC. " on Justia Law

Broadband iTV sued Amazon in the Western District of Texas, alleging patent infringement of five patents related to electronic programming guides for televisions. Amazon moved for summary judgment, arguing that the claims were patent-ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The district court granted Amazon’s motion, finding the claims were directed to an abstract idea and lacked an inventive step to transform the abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention. Broadband iTV appealed.The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas found that the claims of the ’026 patent family were directed to the abstract idea of receiving hierarchical information and organizing the display of video content. The court also found that the claims of the ’825 patent were directed to the abstract idea of collecting and using a viewer’s video history to suggest categories of video content. The court concluded that neither set of claims included elements that transformed the abstract ideas into patent-eligible inventions, as they recited only generic and conventional components.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 of the ’026 patent family were directed to an abstract idea and did not include an inventive concept that transformed the claims into something more than the abstract idea itself. Similarly, the court found that the claims of the ’825 patent were directed to an abstract idea and lacked an inventive concept. The court held that the asserted claims were patent-ineligible under § 101 and affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Amazon. View "BROADBAND ITV, INC. v. AMAZON.COM, INC. " on Justia Law

The case involves the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and Apple Inc. WARF accused Apple of infringing U.S. Patent No. 5,781,752 (the '752 patent) with its A7 and A8 processors in a lawsuit filed in 2014 (WARF I). WARF later filed a second lawsuit (WARF II) accusing Apple's A9 and A10 processors of infringing the same patent. In WARF I, the jury found that Apple’s A7 and A8 processors literally infringed the '752 patent. However, Apple appealed, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the jury's verdict, finding that no reasonable jury could find literal infringement under the plain and ordinary meaning of the term "particular" as used in the patent claims.In the district court for WARF I, WARF had abandoned its doctrine-of-equivalents theory in exchange for Apple not presenting certain evidence at trial. After the Federal Circuit's reversal, WARF sought to reassert the doctrine-of-equivalents theory, but the district court denied this request, citing WARF's prior abandonment and the preclusive effect of the Federal Circuit's interpretation of "particular."In WARF II, the district court stayed proceedings pending the outcome of the appeal in WARF I. After the Federal Circuit's decision, WARF attempted to continue WARF II under the doctrine of equivalents. The district court found that WARF I precluded WARF from proceeding in WARF II, citing issue preclusion and the Kessler doctrine, which prevents repeated litigation of the same issue against the same party.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court's decisions in both WARF I and WARF II. The court held that WARF had waived its doctrine-of-equivalents theory in WARF I and that issue preclusion and the Kessler doctrine barred WARF II. The court concluded that the A7/A8 and A9/A10 processors were essentially the same for the purposes of preclusion and that literal infringement and the doctrine of equivalents are part of the same overall issue of infringement. View "WISCONSIN ALUMNI RESEARCH FOUNDATION v. APPLE INC. " on Justia Law

Thomas Smith, a veteran, sought specially adapted housing (SAH) benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to build a home spa for his service-connected low back disability. Before receiving a response, he constructed the spa. His initial request was denied, and he did not appeal. Later, he sought reimbursement for the spa's construction costs, which was also denied by the VA and the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Smith appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims but died before the case was decided. His daughter, Karen Hicks, sought to substitute herself in the appeal.The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims denied Hicks's motion for substitution, stating she was not entitled to pursue her father's claim. The court found that Hicks had not obtained a determination from the VA that she was an eligible accrued-benefits claimant, a prerequisite for substitution under the court's precedent in Breedlove v. Shinseki.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case. Hicks argued that the Veterans Court should have made the determination of her eligibility for substitution without requiring a VA determination. She also contended that she should be allowed to pursue the claim under 38 C.F.R. § 36.4406, which governs SAH benefits, and under the equitable doctrine of nunc pro tunc. The Federal Circuit affirmed the Veterans Court's decision, holding that the court did not err in requiring a VA determination for substitution eligibility and that Hicks did not meet the regulatory requirements for reimbursement. The court also upheld the application of the nunc pro tunc doctrine, which did not apply as Smith died before the case was submitted for decision. View "SMITH v. MCDONOUGH " on Justia Law

Kenneth Dojaquez, an attorney, appealed a decision regarding his entitlement to additional attorney's fees under 38 U.S.C. § 5904(d)(3). Dojaquez represented a veteran, Billy Wayne Slaughter, who was awarded an increased disability rating by the Board of Veterans' Appeals. The agency assigned an effective date of August 1, 2012, for the increased rating in a decision dated March 2, 2019, but did not notify Slaughter of this decision until April 26, 2019. Dojaquez argued that his attorney's fees should be calculated up to the notification date, not the decision date.The Board of Veterans' Appeals concluded that Dojaquez was only entitled to attorney's fees through March 2, 2019, the date of the agency's decision. The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims affirmed this decision, relying on the interpretation of 38 U.S.C. § 5904(d)(1) and established case law, specifically Snyder v. Nicholson, which defined the end date for calculating past-due benefits as the date of the award decision, not the notification date.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case and affirmed the lower court's decision. The court held that the "date of the final decision" under 38 U.S.C. § 5904(d)(3) refers to the date of the agency's decision assigning an effective date, not the date the veteran was notified of the decision. This interpretation ensures that attorney's fees are calculated based on past-due benefits up to the date of the award decision, consistent with the statutory language and previous case law. The court rejected Dojaquez's argument that the notification date should be used, as it would conflict with the statutory scheme and potentially allow attorneys to receive more than 20% of the claimant's past-due benefits. View "DOJAQUEZ v. MCDONOUGH " on Justia Law

The plaintiff, Realtime Adaptive Streaming LLC, sued DISH and related Sling entities for alleged infringement of three patents related to digital data compression. The district court found the asserted claims of one patent ineligible as abstract under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Defendants filed motions to dismiss and for judgment on the pleadings, which the district court denied, opting to rehear invalidity arguments after claim construction. The district court later stayed the case pending inter partes review (IPR) proceedings, which resulted in some claims being found unpatentable. The stay was lifted after the IPR proceedings concluded, and the district court eventually granted summary judgment of invalidity for the remaining patent claims.The United States District Court for the District of Colorado awarded attorneys’ fees to the defendants, citing six "red flags" that should have warned Realtime that its case was flawed. These included prior court decisions finding similar claims ineligible, Board decisions invalidating related patent claims, non-final office actions rejecting claims in the reexamination of the patent at issue, a notice letter from DISH warning of potential fees, and expert opinions from DISH’s witness. The district court found that the totality of these circumstances rendered the case exceptional.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the district court’s decision and vacated the award of attorneys’ fees. The appellate court found that some of the red flags cited by the district court should not have been given weight, such as the Adaptive Streaming decision and the Board’s decisions on different patents. The court also noted that the district court failed to adequately explain how certain factors, like the notice letter and expert opinions, constituted red flags. The case was remanded for the district court to reconsider the attorneys’ fees award in light of the appellate court’s findings. View "REALTIME ADAPTIVE STREAMING LLC v. SLING TV, L.L.C. " on Justia Law

The case involves veterans' benefits appeals that were erroneously deactivated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) due to a computer program error. The VA operates two adjudicatory systems for benefits claims, and the legacy system is relevant here. Under this system, a claimant must file a Notice of Disagreement and, if unresolved, a Substantive Appeal. The VA's electronic database, VACOLS, automatically closed appeals if no timely Substantive Appeal was noted, leading to approximately 3,000 erroneously closed appeals. This affected U.S. Army veterans J. Roni Freund and Marvin Mathewson, whose successors are the named petitioners in this class action.The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims dismissed the petitions and denied class certification. The court found the case moot as to the individual petitioners after the VA reactivated their appeals. It also held that the petitioners failed to meet the commonality and adequacy requirements for class certification under Rule 23. The court did not address whether the case was moot as to the class or the superiority of class resolution.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case and found that the Veterans Court abused its discretion in its commonality and adequacy findings. The Federal Circuit held that the inherently transitory exception to mootness applied, as the VA's practice of reactivating appeals quickly made it likely that individual claims would become moot before class certification could be ruled upon. The court also rejected the Secretary's argument that the class was not ascertainable due to the difficulty in identifying class members.The Federal Circuit vacated the Veterans Court's order denying class certification and remanded the case for further consideration of class certification and appropriate relief. View "FREUND v. MCDONOUGH " on Justia Law