Category: Federal Circuit

  • By Kevin E. Noonan — On July 22nd, the Federal Circuit issued its opinion in St. Regis Mohawk Tribe v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., affirming the decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that denied the Tribe's motion to terminate Mylan's inter partes review (IPR) proceedings as…

  • By Donald Zuhn — Last month, in Endo Pharmaceuticals Solutions, Inc. v. Custopharm Inc., the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware finding that Defendant-Appellant Custopharm Inc. had not proven that claim 2 of U.S. Patent No. 7,718,640 or claim 18 of U.S. Patent No. 8,338,395 were…

  • By Donald Zuhn — Last week, in Pappalardo v. Stevins, the Federal Circuit affirmed-in-part, vacated-in-part, and remanded a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida granting a motion to dismiss filed by Defendant-Appellee Samantha Stevins, in which Ms. Stevins sought to dismiss an amended complaint filed by Plaintiff-Appellant Michael Pappalardo…

  • By Kevin E. Noonan — It is black-letter law that a claim must be enabled throughout its full scope in order to satisfy the enablement requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 112(a); see, e.g., Liebel-Flarsheim Co. v. Medrad, Inc., 481 F.3d 1371, 1378–79 (Fed. Cir. 2007).  And in the Federal Circuit's recent decision in Trustees of…

  • By Donald Zuhn — Last week, in Otonomy, Inc. v. Auris Medical, AG, the Federal Circuit reversed the decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board according to Auris Medical, AG the benefit of priority to its earlier-filed International application.  The Federal Circuit also affirmed the Board's determination that certain…

  • Catalog Distributed at Conference (Not "Open to the Public") Is Publicly Accessible By Joseph Herndon — GoPro, Inc. appealed from final written decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in two inter partes review (IPR) proceedings.  In the proceedings, the Board found that the petitioner, GoPro, did not demonstrate that the challenged claims were…

  • En Banc Federal Circuit Finds § 145 Appellants Generally Will Not Be Liable for Patent Office's Attorneys' Fee By Kevin E. Noonan & Josh Rich — The Federal Circuit handed down its en banc decision on Friday regarding the question of whether under 35 U.S.C. § 145 an applicant must pay attorneys' fees as part…

  • By Michael Borella — Interval Licensing brought an action against AOL and several other defendants in the Western District of Washington, alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,034,652.  In a previous ruling, all asserted claims of this patent were invalidated as being indefinite.  At issue in this decision are claims 15-18, which were subsequently ruled invalid…

  • Federal Circuit Rejects Use of Tribal Immunity to Shield Patents in IPR Proceedings By Kevin E. Noonan – The Federal Circuit issued its opinion on Friday in St. Regis Mohawk Tribe v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals, affirming the decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that denied the Tribe's…

  • By Michael Hinrichsen*, Anthony D. Sabatelli**, andJonathan Schuchardt*** — Buried amidst the flurry of recent Federal Circuit subject matter eligibility decisions is a question that could significantly change how Section 101 is applied in patent litigation.  Specifically, the issue is whether performing Step 2 of the Mayo/Alice test can require a factual inquiry.  If upheld,…