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MTD Products v Andrei Ianchu

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MTD Products Inc. v. Andrei Ianchu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office

Fed. Cir. August 12, 2019 Before Circuit Judges Reyna, Taranto, and Stoll

The Toro Company sought inter partes review before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The Board held the challenged claims obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103. Critical to its decision, the Board determined that the claim term “mechanical control assembly . . . configured to [perform certain functions]” is not a means-plus-function term subject to 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶ 6. MTD Products Inc. appealed.

The patent specification did not expressly refer to a “mechanical control assembly,” though it did describe a “ZTR control assembly.” The Board concluded that since the specification disclosed a corresponding structure, the claim term “mechanical control assembly” has an established structural meaning, and therefore, the term is not a means-plus-function term. (more…)

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VirnetX v Apple

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VirnetX Inc., v. Apple Inc.

Nos. 2017-1591, 2017-1592, 2017-1593 Fed. Cir. August 1, 2019 Before Chief Judge Prost, with Circuit Judges Moore and Reyna. Opinion by Chief Judge Prost.

VirnetX Inc. (“VirnetX”) appealed from decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) related to three inter partes reexaminations maintained by Apple Inc. and Cisco Systems, Inc. The issues in the case were:

  1. whether Apple was barred from maintaining its reexams by the estoppel provision of the pre-America Invents Act version of 35 U.S.C. § 317(b) (2006); and
  2. whether certain claims were unpatentable as anticipated or obvious over the prior art of record.

(more…)

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Westech Aerosol v 3M

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Westech Aerosol Corporation v. 3M Company, et al.

No.2018-1699 Fed. Cir. July 5, 2019 Before Circuit Judges Lourie, Mayer, and Reyna.

Westech appealed the decision of the district court for the Western District of Washington granting 3M’s motion to dismiss for improper venue. Considering the Supreme Court’s ruling in TC Heartland, 137 S.Ct. 1514 (2017), 3M moved to amend its motion to dismiss to include an argument that venue was improper because 3M did not have a regular and established place of business in the judicial district. (more…)

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TQ Delta v Dish Network

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TQ Delta, LLC v. Dish Network LLC

No. 2018-1799 Fed. Cir. July 10, 2019 Before Circuit Judges Newman, Linn, and Wallach.

TQ Delta appealed a Final Written Decision (FWD) of the PTAB finding, inter alia, that claims 6, 11, 16 and 20 of TQ Delta’s U.S. Patent No. 8,611,404 (“the ‘404 patent”) were unpatentable as obvious. The ‘404 patent relates to the field of multicarrier transmission systems which provide high speed data links between communication points [and have recently been used] … for communications over the local subscriber loop that connects a telephone service subscriber to a central telephone office. The invention is described in the context of an ADSL system having a first transceiver located at the site of a customer’s premises as well as a second transceiver located at a local central telephone office. (more…)

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Cisco Systems v TQ Delta

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Cisco Systems, Inc. v. TQ Delta, LLC

No. 2018-1806; Arris Group, Inc. v. TQ Delta, LLC No. 2018-1917Fed. Cir. July 10, 2019Before Circuit Judges Newman, Linn, and Wallach.

This appeal is companion to appeal No. 2018-1799, wherein four claims of U.S. Patent No. 8,611,404 (“the ’404 patent”) were held to be obvious over the same combination of prior art analyzed in this appeal. (Please see the previous case summary). In this appeal, the appellants challenged the PTAB’s interpretation of the remaining claims of the ‘404 patent. The court agreed with the appellants and vacated the PTAB’s holding, remanding the case.

The appellants asserted that the PTAB did not apply the broadest reasonable interpretation of the term “synchronization signal” in light of the specification of the ’404 patent. The court reviewed the PTAB’s assessment of the intrinsic evidence de novo. The court determined that claim 6 was representative and reviewed the term as used in the claim. The court then reviewed the surrounding claims and the remaining specification to interpret the claim term, as required by Philips. (more…)

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Bradium Technologies v Iancu

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Bradium Technologies v Iancu

Nos. 2017-2579, 2017-2580 Fed. Cir. May 13, 2019 Before Circuit Judges Moore, Reyna and Chen.

Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”) petitioned the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“the Board”) for inter partes review of claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 7,908,343 and 8,924,506 (the “Patents”). The Federal Circuit affirmed the Board’s finding that the claims were unpatentable as obvious. After Bradium Technologies LLC (“Bradium”) appealed, Bradium and Microsoft settled their dispute.

After institution of the IPR, Bradium proposed a construction for the term “limited bandwidth communications channel,” seeking to limit its meaning to “a wireless or narrowband communications channel.” The Board rejected Bradium’s proposed construction and adopted the term’s plain and ordinary meaning, which it concluded was “a communications channel whose bandwidth is limited.” (more…)

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AVX Corp v Presidio Components

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AVX Corp v. Presidio Components

No. 2018-1106 Fed. Cir. May 13, 2019 Before Circuit Judges Newman, O’Malley, and Taranto.

Presidio makes ceramic capacitors having a “buried metallization” in the dielectric layer. AVX petitioned the PTO for an inter partes review (IPR) of all claims of Presidio’s patent. The Board held some claims unpatentable and that AVX has failed to establish unpatentability of the other claims. AVX appealed as to the upheld claims. Presidio responded to AVX on the merits but also argued that although AVX had a statutory right to appeal, it lacked the standing required by Article III of the Constitution. AVX had standing to file the IPR petition because Article III requirements do not apply to administrative agencies. (more…)

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ATI Tech ULC v Iancu

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ATI Technologies ULC v. Iancu

Nos. 2016-2222, 2016-2406, 2016-2608 Fed. Cir. April 11, 2019 Before Circuit Judges Newman, O’Malley, and Wallach.

ATI Technologies ULC (“ATI”) appeals three final decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB” or “Board”) on petitions for inter partes review filed by LG Electronics, Inc. (“LGE”). The Board held all but one of the challenged claims unpatentable as anticipated or obvious. LGE withdrew from its appeal and cross-appeal, and the PTO Director intervened in support of the PTAB decisions.

This case arises under the pre-AIA “first to invent” statutory scheme. ATI filed Rule 131 declarations to “swear behind” prior art references. The PTAB held that conception was established before the primary reference dates, and that constructive reduction to practice occurred on the filing date of each patent. However, the PTAB held that ATI had not established actual reduction to practice or diligence to constructive reduction to practice for the three patents. The PTAB therefore invalidated the patents based on the cited references. The Federal Circuit reversed, finding that ATI exercised (more…)

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TEK Global v Sealant Systems Intl

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TEK Global, S.R.L., TEK Corporation v. Sealant Systems
International, Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair

No. 2017-2507 Fed. Cir. April 2, 2019 Before Chief Judge Prost, with Circuit Judges Dyk and Wallach.

The patent in suit is directed to an emergency kit for repairing vehicle tires deflated by puncture. The Court held that Appellant should not have been prevented from presenting to the jury theories concerning obviousness that Appellant had not asserted in a prior appeal to the Federal Circuit, even though the Court considered the same prior art references in the prior appeal. The Court remanded the case for a partial new trial on validity.

Appellant SSI argued that “conduits connecting the container” and “container connecting conduit” should be construed as means-plus-function limitations under 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶ 6 because the term “conduit” is a nonce word. After reviewing the claim language (including dependent claims), the specification, the prosecution history, and dictionaries, the Court concluded that intrinsic and extrinsic evidence established that the term “conduit” sufficiently defines a structure so as to avoid classification as a nonce term. (more…)

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Forest Labs v Sigmapharm Labs

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Forest Laboratories, LLC, et al. v. Sigmapharm Laboratories, LLC., et al.

Nos. 2017-2369, etc. Fed. Cir. March 14, 2019 Before Chief Judge Prost, with Circuit Judges Dyk and Moore. Opinion by Circuit Judge Moore.

Sigmapharm filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application seeking to market generic versions of Saphris, a sublingually administered, atypical antipsychotic containing asenapine maleate. Claim 1 claimed a solid pharmaceutical composition that disintegrated within 30 seconds in water at 37ºC. Claim 1 did not expressly refer to buccal or sublingual administration. The district court construed claim 1 to be limited to buccal and sublingual formulations and that the claims were not obvious.

Although the Federal Circuit agreed with the district court’s claim construction, the Court vacated the district court’s judgment of non-obviousness and remanded the district court’s judgment. (more…)

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