Thursday, December 22, 2016

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Supreme Court Opinion - December 6, 2016

Samsung Elecs., Co. v. Apple Inc., 580 U. S. ____ (2016) (holding that "[i]n the case of a multicomponent product, the relevant 'article of manufacture' for arriving at a §289 damages award need not be the end product sold to the consumer but may be only a component of that product").

New Federal Circuit Opinions - December 6, 2016

Asetek Danmark A/S v. CMI USA, Inc., Nos. 2016-1026, 2016-1183 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 6, 2016).

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Thursday, November 17, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - November 17, 2016

In re Rearden LLC, No. 2016-125 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 17, 2016) (order).
Alfred E. Mann Found. for Sci. Res. v. Cochlear Corp., Nos. 2015-1580, 2015-1606, 2015-1607 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 17, 2016).

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Monday, November 7, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - November 7, 2016

SAS Institute, Inc. v. Complementsoft, LLC, Nos. 2015-1346, 2015-1347 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 7, 2016) (order denying petition for rehearing en banc).

Thursday, October 20, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - October 20, 2016

Medtronic, Inc. v. Robert Bosch Healthcare Sys. Inc., Nos. 2015-1977, 2015-1986, 2015-1987 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 20, 2016) (denying petition for rehearing).

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Friday, October 7, 2016

Friday, September 30, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - September 30, 2016

Lyda v. CBS Corp., No. 2015-1923 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 30, 2016).
Intellectual Ventures I LLC v. Symantec Corp., Nos. 2015-1769, 2015-1770, 2015-1771 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 30, 2016).

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Friday, September 23, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - September 23, 2016

Husky Injection Molding Sys. Ltd. v. Athena Automation Ltd., Nos. 2015-1726, 2015-1727 (Fed. Cirr. Sept. 23, 2016).
Affinity Labs of Texas, LLC v. DirecTV, LLC, Nos. 2015-1845, 2015-1846, 2015-1847, 2015-1848 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 23, 2016).
Affinity Labs of Texas, LLC v. Amazon.com Inc., No. 2015-2080 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 23, 2016).
Cox Commc'ns, Inc. v. Sprint Commc'n Co. LP., No. 2016-1013 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 23, 2016).

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Friday, September 16, 2016

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - September 13, 2016

McRO, Inc. v. Bandai Namco Am. Inc., Nos. 2015-1080, -1081, -1082, -1083, -1084, -1085, -1086, -1087, -1088, -1089, -1090, -1092, -1093, -1094, -1095, -1096, -1097, -1098, -1099, -1100, -1101 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 13, 2016).

Monday, September 12, 2016

Friday, August 12, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - August 10, 2016

In re Aqua Prods., Inc., No. 2015-1177 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 12, 2016) (order granting rehearing en banc).

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - August 10, 2016

Arendi S.A.R.L. v. Apple Inc., No. 2015-2073 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 10, 2016).
Vapor Point, L.L.C. v. Moorhead, Nos. 2015-1801, 2015-2003 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 10, 2016).

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - August 9, 2016

In re CSB-System Int'l, Inc., No. 2015-1832 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 9, 2016).
In re Warsaw Orthopedic, Inc., Nos. 2015-1050, 2015-1058 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 9, 2016).

Monday, August 1, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - August 1, 2016

Elec. Power Group v. Alstom S.A., No. 2015-1778 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 1, 2016).
GPNE Corp. v. Apple Inc., No. 2015-1825 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 1, 2016).
Murata Mach. USA, Inc. v. Daifuku Co., No. 2015-2094 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 1, 2016).
Wi-LAN USA, Inc. v. Apple Inc., No. 2015-1256 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 1, 2016).

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Friday, July 15, 2016

Monday, July 11, 2016

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - June 22, 2016

Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. v. Covidien LP, No. 2014-1771 (Fed. Cir. June 22, 2016) (Order denying petition for rehearing en banc).

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - June 21, 2016

Immersion Corp. v. HTC Corp., No. 2015-1574 (Fed. Cir. June 21, 2016) (holding that a patent application may be “filed before the patenting” of the earlier application when both legal acts, filing and patenting, occur on the same day).

Friday, June 10, 2016

Friday, May 27, 2016

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Friday, May 20, 2016

Reassessing How to Draft “Preferred Embodiments” in Patent Applications

Holding

In Howmedica OsteonicsCorp. v. Zimmer, Inc., Nos. 2015-1232, -1234, -1239, slip op. at 15-16 (Fed. Cir. May 12, 2016), the Federal Circuit held that introductory clauses such as “In the preferred embodiment” may “limit only the sentences in which they are located” and not the succeeding sentences in the same paragraph.

Key Facts and Observations

The dispute involves the “essentially midway” construction in U.S. Patent No. 6,475,243 (“’243 patent”) concerning a socket assembly used in prosthetic hip implants.

The patent owner argued that the “essentially midway” language in the written description concerns a preferred embodiment and cannot be used to limit the claims. Slip op., at 15.  Specifically, the patent owner reasoned that introductory clauses such as “In the preferred embodiment” apply not only to the sentences in which they are located, but also to the succeeding sentences in the same paragraph. Id.

The Federal Circuit disagreed, finding that “context reveals that such introductory clauses limit only the sentences in which they are located in this case.” Id. at 15-16. The Federal Circuit also gave little weight to the generalized disclaimers such as “The invention will be understood more fully . . . in the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention” and “It is to be understood that the above detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention is provided by way of example only.” Id. at 16.

A closer review of the relevant language in the ’243 patent reveals that the Federal Circuit’s holding 
on “preferred embodiments” may not be as far-reaching as it appears. Specifically, the “preferred embodiments” language appears in the middle of a paragraph in the ’243 patent. See, e.g., ’243 patent, col. 6, l. 64 – col. 7, l. 17. Therefore, the Federal Circuit found that “context reveals that such introductory clauses limit only the sentences in which they are located in this case.” Slip op. at 15-16 (emphasis added).

Practice Tips

In light of this opinion, when drafting preferred embodiments, patent attorneys should consider (1) using the “In a preferred embodiment” language in the beginning of a paragraph, and/or (2) adding another generalized disclaimer such as “The discussion of the preferred embodiments herein shall not be construed to limit only the sentences in which introductory clauses such as ‘In a preferred embodiment’ are located.”

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - May 17, 2016

In re TLI Commc'n LLC Patent Litig., Nos. 2015-1372, -1376, -1377, -1378, -1379, -1382, -1383, -1384, -1385, -1417, -1419, -1421 (Fed. Cir. May 17, 2016).
Diamond Coating Techs., LLC v. Hyundai Motor Am., Nos. 2015-1844, 2015-1861 (Fed. Cir. May 17, 2016).

Friday, May 13, 2016

Thursday, May 12, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - May 12, 2016

Howmedica Osteonics Corp. v. Zimmer, Inc., Nos. 2015-1232, -1234, -1239 (Fed. Cir. May 12, 2016).
Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp., No. 2015-1244 (Fed. Cir. May 12, 2016).

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - April 26, 2016

Merck & Cie v. Gnosis S.p.A., No. 2014-1779 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 26, 2016) (order).
No. 2014-1779 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 26, 2016) (order).
S. Ala. Med. Sci. Found. v. Gnosis S.p.A., Nos. 2014-1778, 2014-1780, 2014-1781 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 26, 2016)

Friday, April 22, 2016

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - April 5, 2016

HP Inc. v. MPHJ Tech. Invs., LLC, No. 2015-1427 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 5, 2016).
Pride Mobility Prods. Corp. v. Permobil, Inc., Nos. 2015-1585, 2015-1586 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 5, 2016).
Cardpool, Inc., v. Plastic Jungle, Inc., No. 2014-1562 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 5, 2016).
High Point SARL v. Sprint Nextel Corp., No. 2015-1298 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 5, 2016).


Friday, April 1, 2016

Thursday, March 31, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - March 31, 2016

ClearCorrect Operating, LLC v. Int'l Trade Comm'n, No. 2014-1527 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 31, 2016) (Order).
Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc., Nos. 2014-1856, 2014-1857 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 31, 2016).
Clare v. Chrysler Group LLC, No. 2015-1199 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 31, 2016).

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Monday, March 21, 2016

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Thursday, March 10, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - March 10, 2016

In re Smith, No. 2015-1664 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 10, 2016).
In re Varma, No. 2015-1502 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 10, 2016).

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - March 1, 2016

UltimatePointer, LLC v. Nintendo Co., No. 2015-1297 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 1, 2016).
Harmonic Inc. v. Avid Tech., Inc., No. 2015-1072 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 1, 2016).
Blue Calypso, LLC v. Groupon, Inc., Nos. 2015-1391, 2015-1393, 2015-1394 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 1, 2016).

Friday, February 26, 2016

Monday, February 22, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - February 22, 2016

PPC Broadband, Inc. v. Corning Optical Commc'ns RF, LLC, Nos. 2015-1361, 2015-1366, 2015-1368, 2015-1369 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 22, 2016).
Nuance Commc'ns, Inc. v. ABBYY USA Software House, Inc., Nos. 2014-1629, 2014-1630 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 22, 2016).
ACCO Brands Corp. v. Fellowes, Inc., No. 2015-1045 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 22, 2016).
PPC Broadband, Inc. v. Corning Optical Commc'ns RF, LLC, No. 2015-1364 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 22, 2016).

Friday, February 19, 2016

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - February 10, 2016

Convolve, Inc. v. Compaq Comput. Corp., No. 2014-1732 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 10, 2016).
TransWeb, LLC v. 3M Innovative Props. Co., No. 2014-1732 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 10, 2016).
Synopsys, Inc. v. Mentor Graphics Corp., Nos. 2014-1516, 2014-1530 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 10, 2016).
Synopsys, Inc. v. Lee, No. 2015-1183 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 10, 2016).

Friday, February 5, 2016

Friday, January 29, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - January 29, 2016

Akzo Nobel Coatings, Inc. v. Dow Chem. Co., Nos. 2015-1331, 2015-1389 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 29, 2016).
Avid Tech., Inc. v. Harmonic, Inc., No. 2015-1246 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 29, 2016).
Agilent Techs., Inc. v. Waters Techs. Corp., No. 2015-1280 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 29, 2016).

Friday, January 22, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - January 22, 2016

Lumen View Tech., LLC v. Findthebest.com, Inc., Nos. 2015-1275, 2015-1325 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 22, 2016).
Pfizer, Inc. v. Lee, No. 2015-1265 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 22, 2016).

Friday, January 8, 2016

New Federal Circuit Opinions - January 8, 2016

In re Urbanski, No. 2015_1272 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 8, 2016).
Wi-Lan, Inc. v. Apple Inc., Nos. 2014-1437, 2014-1485 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 8, 2016).