The Federal Circuit reversed summary judgments of invalidity for lack of enablement and unenforceability for inequitable conduct in a semiconductor wafer-cleaning patent case, holding that enablement requires only that skilled artisans be able to make and use the full scope of the claimed invention
The Federal Circuit affirmed the ITC’s non-infringement finding in a section 337 flooring patent dispute, holding that an applicant’s reliance on ‘play’ between panels to distinguish prior art during prosecution constituted a clear disclaimer that limited claim scope to syste
The Federal Circuit reversed the TTAB’s refusal to register BLUE MOON for beer, holding that beer and restaurant services are not presumptively related goods and services, and that the USPTO must point to something more than the mere relatedness of industries to refuse registration under the l
The Federal Circuit affirmed the ITC’s finding that Honeywell’s PET yarn patent claims were insolubly ambiguous — and therefore invalid as indefinite — because the claims specified measurement parameters without identifying which of four sample preparation methods should be used to make
The Federal Circuit held that 35 U.S.C. § 271(g) — which prohibits importing products made by a patented U.S. process — covers only physical products actually manufactured by the patented process, not information or drug leads identified by using the patented research method.
The Federal Circuit held that Schering’s patent on a metabolite of Claritin (loratadine) was invalid because the metabolite is necessarily and inherently formed when a patient takes a dose of the previously patented loratadine — establishing that inherent anticipation does not require recognit
The Federal Circuit reversed a declaratory judgment of non-infringement, holding that the doctrine of claim differentiation creates a strong presumption that an independent claim has a broader scope than its dependent claims, and that the narrow limitation in a dependent claim should not be read bac
The Federal Circuit reversed summary judgments of non-infringement and invalidity, holding that the district court improperly added a negative limitation to patent claims without intrinsic evidence support, and that prosecution disclaimer applies only when a patentee makes clear and unmistakable sur
The Federal Circuit held that the Hatch-Waxman safe harbor of § 271(e)(1) does not immunize basic pre-clinical research conducted by drug companies even when the research might eventually lead to FDA submissions, adopting a narrow reading later reversed by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court held that the Lanham Act’s false designation of origin provision applies to the physical source of goods, not to the communicative content of expressive works — so unaccredited copying of a public domain film does not violate the Act.
The Federal Circuit held that NAFTA’s amendments to the Lanham Act require proof of actual consumer deception before a mark can be refused registration as primarily geographically deceptively misdescriptive, overturning a TTAB refusal of the CALIFORNIA INNOVATIONS mark.
The Federal Circuit held that a shrink-wrap license contractually prohibiting reverse engineering of software is enforceable and not preempted by federal copyright law, even though copyright law itself permits reverse engineering in certain circumstances.
The Federal Circuit held that an ANDA applicant seeking approval to sell a generic drug for an FDA-approved use does not infringe a method-of-use patent claiming an unapproved, off-label use of the same drug — establishing important limits on Hatch-Waxman patent infringement actions.
The Supreme Court held 7–2 that the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which added 20 years to existing and future copyright terms, does not violate the Copyright Clause’s “limited Times” requirement or the First Amendment.
The Supreme Court held that the Federal Trademark Dilution Act requires proof of actual dilution of the famous mark, not merely a likelihood of dilution — a standard Congress later reversed by enacting the Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006.
The Federal Circuit affirmed rejection of claims for a nickel-base superalloy composition, holding that a prior art reference disclosing a range that overlaps a claimed range establishes a prima facie case of obviousness, and that the normal desire of scientists to optimize within known ranges provi
The Federal Circuit affirmed the validity of Amgen’s erythropoietin (EPO) patents covering recombinant human erythropoietin, finding the claims satisfied written description and enablement requirements, while remanding certain issues for further consideration.
The Federal Circuit sharply limited the common-law experimental use defense by holding that universities infringe patents when they use patented technology in their research programs, even without profit motive, because such use advances the university’s legitimate business objectives.
The Federal Circuit held that dictionaries, encyclopedias, and technical treatises are valuable starting points for determining the ordinary and customary meaning of patent claim terms, and should be consulted before examining the specification for limitations.
The Federal Circuit held that the written description requirement is separate from the enablement requirement and that a deposit of biological materials in a recognized depository can satisfy written description — setting an important standard for biotechnology patent claims directed to biological s
The Federal Circuit held that a farmer who saved patented Roundup Ready soybean seeds from his harvest and replanted them violated Monsanto’s patent rights, because patent exhaustion does not apply to seeds that were copied rather than purchased from the patentee.
The Federal Circuit affirmed invalidation of patents covering methods of preparing cruciferous sprout food products for cancer prevention, holding that the patents were anticipated because the glucosinolate content and Phase 2 enzyme-inducing properties of broccoli sprouts were inherent characterist
The Federal Circuit affirmed infringement of an offshore platform installation patent under the doctrine of equivalents but vacated the damages award, holding that all three damage models presented by the patentee’s expert were legally flawed because they based royalty calculations on the enti
The Federal Circuit held that a patent claiming the priority date of a provisional application is invalid under the on-sale bar if the provisional specification failed to adequately describe the claimed invention, because the patent cannot claim priority it did not earn.