The importance of patent claims is the most misunderstood aspect of patent interpretation. What makes a patent so valuable is that a patent grant from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office provides a limited monopoly, and the [...]
In a November 22, 2019, decision (Ex Parte Berndt Burghard, Appeal No. 2018-001861), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board reversed the examiner’s decision rejecting claims 1-20 as being directed to patent ineligible subject matter under 35 [...]
In Curver Luxembourg, SARL v. Home Expressions, Inc. (Fed. Cir., September 12, 2019), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) had to determine whether US Design Patent No. D677,948 which shows a design pattern, [...]
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued two precedential opinions relating to the time for filing petitions for inter partes patent reviews. While the AIA permits challengers to file a request for inter partes review of [...]
The USPTO published an October 17, 2019 Update on Subject Matter Eligibility. The Update follows up on the Patent Eligibility Guidance (PEG) the USPTO published in January 2019. The Update uses further explanation and examples to focus [...]
Patent infringement defendants often file a motion for judgment on the pleadings (under FRCP 12(c)) or a motion for summary judgment (under FRCP 56) early in the case – often before discovery or even a Markman [...]
In Samsung Elecs. Co., Ltd v. Infobridge PTE Ltd., (Fed. Cir. July 12, 2019) the Federal Circuit found that the PTAB applied the wrong legal standard for determining whether a reference was publicly accessible before a critical [...]
In the case of Automotive Body Parts Association v. Ford Global Technologies, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was asked to consider whether certain design patents owned by Ford are invalid on the grounds of [...]
Patent challengers have a number of mechanisms to challenge the validity of a patent. The American Invents Act of 2011 overhauled the U.S. Patent system and established three types of administrative review proceedings before the Patent Trial [...]
States, such as through state universities, often own patents. Typically, state sovereign immunity shields a state from being sued by private parties, such as in a lawsuit brought by a party seeking declaratory judgement that the state-owned [...]
