The Federal Circuit sitting en banc held that a party who induces multiple actors to collectively perform all steps of a method patent claim can be liable for induced infringement even if no single party directly infringes all steps — significantly expanding liability for divided infringement of int
The Federal Circuit held that Voter Verified’s copyright claim against Premier Election Solutions for voter verification software failed under the merger doctrine — finding that the specific expression in the claimed software code was inseparable from the underlying idea of a voter-verified pa
The Federal Circuit held that patents on computer-implemented methods for managing stable-value life insurance policies are directed to an abstract idea and therefore invalid under § 101, ruling that adding generic computer implementation to an abstract mathematical algorithm does not create patent-
The Federal Circuit reversed an obviousness finding in a Hatch-Waxman dispute over method-of-treatment patents covering naproxen-esomeprazole combination therapy for treating pain while reducing gastrointestinal damage — holding that the district court failed to properly analyze the motivation to co
The Federal Circuit affirmed a $371 million enhanced damages award against W.L. Gore for willful infringement of Bard’s vascular graft patent — one of the largest patent verdicts in history — holding that Gore’s employee did not qualify as a joint inventor and that the pioneering PTFE gr
The Federal Circuit affirmed an exceptional case fee award against Allcare Health Management for maintaining objectively baseless patent infringement claims, applying the then-prevailing two-part test for § 285 fee awards and addressing the standard of review for exceptional case determinations — a
The Federal Circuit held that MySpace’s social networking website did not infringe Graphon’s patents on searchable online databases, finding the asserted claims invalid as obvious combinations of well-known internet database and search technologies — an important post-KSR ruling on obvio
The Federal Circuit held that Dealertrack’s claims covering a computer-aided system for routing automobile dealer credit applications to lenders were directed to the unpatentable abstract idea of processing credit applications — striking down the patents under § 101 because adding ‘apply
The Federal Circuit reversed a finding of indefiniteness in a touchscreen patent dispute, holding that a claim term need not be expressed in traditional means-plus-function form to invoke § 112(f) — and clarified when functional claim language triggers the algorithm-disclosure requirement, with sign
The Federal Circuit reversed a district court dismissal and held that Ultramercial’s patent on distributing copyrighted content free-to-consumers in exchange for viewing advertisements was patent-eligible subject matter under § 101 — finding the multi-step process involved meaningful, non-abst
The Federal Circuit held that Classen Immunotherapies’ method claims for identifying optimal vaccination schedules to reduce chronic immune-mediated disorders were patent-eligible under § 101 in part — distinguishing between claims that merely require correlating a natural relationship and cla
The Federal Circuit held that CyberSource’s patent on a method of detecting credit card fraud by tracking internet addresses was directed to an unpatentable mental process — a gathering and comparing of information that a human could perform in their mind — and that reciting a Beauregard compu
The Federal Circuit held that Myriad Genetics’ patents on isolated BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene sequences — mutations of which indicate elevated breast and ovarian cancer risk — were patent-eligible, while cDNA molecules and method claims for ‘comparing’ or ‘analyzing’ sequence
The Federal Circuit sitting en banc overhauled the doctrine of inequitable conduct, holding that rendering a patent unenforceable requires both but-for materiality (the undisclosed information would have blocked the patent) and specific intent to deceive the USPTO — dramatically narrowing a defense
The Federal Circuit addressed joint infringement in a healthcare IT patent dispute, holding that when patients and healthcare providers together perform steps of a patented method for online patient-provider communications, neither party alone is a direct infringer — applying the direction-or-contro
The Federal Circuit ruled that the widely used ’25 percent rule of thumb’ for calculating starting-point patent royalties is inadmissible as a matter of law, vacating a $388 million damages award against Microsoft and requiring that every patent royalty calculation be tied to the specifi
The Federal Circuit upheld Prometheus’s patents on methods for optimizing thiopurine drug dosing based on metabolite blood levels, holding the claims directed to patent-eligible subject matter because they applied natural correlations through a physical transformation — a ruling the Supreme Co
The Federal Circuit upheld patents on digital image halftoning technology as patent-eligible subject matter, holding that mathematical algorithms applied to specific, practical technological problems are not so abstract as to be excluded from § 101, and cautioning against an overly rigid application
The Federal Circuit reversed a summary judgment of obviousness in a deepwater drilling rig patent dispute, holding that the district court failed to give adequate weight to powerful objective evidence of non-obviousness — including commercial success, long-felt need, and failure of others — and rema
The Federal Circuit applied claim differentiation and rejected a narrowing construction of defibrillator patent claims, holding that independent claims cannot be read to require limitations found only in dependent claims — and affirmed the district court’s infringement finding on the broader i
The Federal Circuit held AstraZeneca’s patents on a once-daily budesonide inhaler formulation (Pulmicort Respules) valid and infringed in a Hatch-Waxman challenge, affirming the district court’s analysis of the complex obviousness record and reinforcing the significance of FDA-required l
The Federal Circuit sitting en banc held that 35 U.S.C. § 112 contains a written description requirement that is distinct from the enablement requirement, and invalidated a broad genus patent covering all substances that inhibit NF-κB activity because the patent described the goal but not the means.
The Federal Circuit affirmed a $200 million jury verdict and permanent injunction against Microsoft for infringing i4i’s patent on a method for editing custom XML in word processing documents, rejecting Microsoft’s invalidity defense premised on a prior-sold product and upholding the cle
The Federal Circuit vacated a patent damages award and held that a reasonable royalty calculation must rely on licenses that are technologically and economically comparable to the patent at issue — rejecting a royalty rate derived from re-bundling agreements that had no connection to the claimed inv