The Federal Circuit reversed the PTAB’s obviousness ruling on a drug delivery device patent, holding that the Board misapplied the analogous art test by comparing a prior art reference to another prior art reference rather than to the challenged patent—an IPR petitioner bears the burden of sho
The Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s addition of a joint inventor to a bacon-precooking patent, holding that contributing a preheating concept—when that concept was already known and not the novel element of the claimed invention—is an ‘insignificant’ contribution that d
The Federal Circuit affirmed an ITC exclusion order against FS.com’s imported fiber optic equipment, holding that Corning’s high-density fiber optic patents were enabled and that the asserted claims were infringed.
The Federal Circuit affirmed that patents claiming a method for distributing digital promotional content—loading branding images when a user’s GPS location matches a specified geographic area—are directed to the abstract idea of providing information based on meeting a condition, and contain n
The Federal Circuit affirmed invalidity of UCB’s transdermal rotigotine patch patent, holding that prior art ranges overlapping with claimed ranges create a presumption of obviousness that the patentee must rebut by showing criticality or unexpected results.
The Federal Circuit affirmed that Arbutus Biopharma’s patent on stable nucleic acid-lipid particles (SNALPs) with non-lamellar morphology was inherently anticipated by an earlier Arbutus patent, holding that when the same formulation process disclosed in both patents naturally produces the cla
The Federal Circuit affirmed willful infringement of Ironburg’s video game controller patent by Valve’s Steam Controller, while vacating and clarifying the standard for IPR estoppel — holding that the patent owner, not the petitioner, bears the burden of proving estoppel applies.
The Federal Circuit revived Apple’s Administrative Procedure Act challenge to the USPTO’s Fintiv policy, under which the PTAB discretionarily denies institution of inter partes reviews when parallel district court litigation is proceeding, allowing the challenge to be heard on its merits
The Federal Circuit reversed the PTAB’s finding of no obviousness, holding that when two prior art references address the same technical problem and one provides a known technique for solving it, a skilled artisan would be motivated to combine them—the Board’s contrary conclusion contrad
The Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB’s ruling that the University of Minnesota’s antiviral drug patent—directed to phosphoramidate prodrugs of nucleoside derivatives—lacked adequate written description support for its broad genus claims, because the patent’s specification disclose
The Federal Circuit affirmed the delisting of Jazz Pharmaceuticals’ REMS system patent from the FDA Orange Book, holding that a patent claiming a drug distribution and monitoring system — rather than the drug itself or a method of using it — is ineligible for Orange Book listing.
The Federal Circuit affirmed that Minerva Surgical’s demonstration of 15 fully functional endometrial ablation device prototypes at an industry trade show—more than a year before the patent’s priority date—triggered the public use bar of pre-AIA § 102(b) and invalidated the asserted pate
The Federal Circuit affirmed that patent claims directed to isolated nicotinamide riboside (NR)—a form of vitamin B3 found naturally in cow’s milk—are directed to a natural phenomenon and ineligible under § 101, because the claims effectively read on milk with only the isolation step as a diff
The Federal Circuit held that the USPTO Director’s authority to review PTAB decisions under the Arthrex remedy is not constrained by the IPR statutory deadlines, and that the Appointments Clause does not guarantee patent owners a right to timely Director rehearing.
The Federal Circuit affirmed that Personalized Media Communications’ patent covering digital rights management technology is unenforceable for prosecution laches, voiding a $308 million jury verdict against Apple, after finding PMC engaged in unreasonable and unexplained delays in prosecuting
The Federal Circuit vacated a district court’s indefiniteness finding for a viscometer patent, holding that the intrinsic record — not dictionary definitions — governs claim construction, and that terms of degree are not indefinite when the specification provides adequate context for a skilled
The Federal Circuit granted mandamus, holding that a foreign defendant cannot defeat Rule 4(k)(2) personal jurisdiction in the plaintiff’s chosen forum by unilaterally consenting to jurisdiction in a different district after the lawsuit is filed.
The Federal Circuit affirmed that Sandoz’s generic pirfenidone label would not induce infringement of Genentech’s method-of-treatment patents, and also upheld invalidity of the liver function test patents as obvious, clarifying the inducement standard for drug labels in Hatch-Waxman litigation.
The Federal Circuit reversed a summary judgment of patent invalidity for anticipation, finding genuine disputes about whether the alleged prior art product predated the patent’s critical date, and separately affirmed that Mosaic’s claimed trade dress was invalid as functional.
The Federal Circuit held that genuine disputes of material fact precluded summary judgment of patent invalidity for failure to name a co-inventor, reversing the district court’s ruling that the patents were invalid for nonjoinder.
The Federal Circuit held that collateral estoppel from a prior IPR proceeding can invalidate claims in a later IPR even when the claims use different language, as long as the differences do not materially alter the question of patentability.
The Federal Circuit upheld the exclusion of a patent owner’s expert witness whose infringement opinion rested on a claim construction that materially differed from the district court’s adopted construction, resulting in summary judgment of noninfringement.
The Federal Circuit held that a patent owner’s disclaimer made for the first time during an IPR proceeding does not bind the PTAB in that same proceeding, preventing patentees from narrowing claim scope through argument alone to avoid invalidity.
The Federal Circuit unanimously affirmed the district court’s holding that five patent claims covering ibrutinib (Imbruvica) — a breakthrough cancer drug — were not invalid for obviousness, lack of written description, or lack of enablement, underscoring appellate deference to trial court fact