The Federal Circuit continues to struggle with software patentability, even after the Supreme Court’s decisions in Mayo v. Prometheus and In re Bilski. As you probably remember, those cases struck down patents for failing to claim patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Bilski dealt with a method of hedging investments, and Prometheus dealt [...]
In this podcast, Antigone Peyton and Matt Levy discuss the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in the Akamai and McKesson cases. The court was supposed to be deciding what the rule should be when different parties perform the steps of a patented method. That’s not what happened, though, and the court was closely divided about the [...]
In re Baxter International, No. 2011–1073 (Fed. Cir. May 17, 2012) (Judges Newman, Lourie, and Moore) Patent Reexamination Is Normally Such a Peaceful Neighborhood… At first glance, this opinion doesn’t seem like a big deal. Fresenius Medical Care Holdings sued Baxter for a declaratory judgment of invalidity on Baxter’s patent in 2003 and, as often [...]
Ergo Licensing, LLC v. Carefusion 303, Inc., No. 2011–1229 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 26, 2012) (Judges Newman, Linn, and Moore) Means-plus-function claims can be tricky. A means-plus-function limitation lets a patentee claim a structure by describing its function, like a “means for attaching a door to a wall” or a “means for containing liquid,” instead of [...]
Landmark Screens, LLC v. Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius, LLP, No. 2011–1297 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 23, 2012) (Judges Bryson, Clevenger, and O’Malley) This is a malpractice case, and the conduct by Landmark’s former patent lawyer is pretty bad. The main issue before the court was whether Landmark’s fraud claim was barred by the statute of limitations, [...]
3M Company v. Avery Dennison Corp., No. 2011–1339 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 26, 2012) (Chief Judge Rader and Judges Lourie and Linn) When is a threat of patent infringement not a threat? If a patent owner makes too much noise, the target may file a declaratory judgment action to get to court first (and get to [...]
Here are a couple of recent cases involving claim construction issues. In both, the patent owner tried to argue that a term meant something different than what seemed to be the term’s plain meaning. In re Transaction Holdings Ltd., No. 2011–3061 (Apr. 23, 2012) (Judges Bryson, Schall, and Prost) (nonprecedential) This case combines an appeal [...]
When companies merge and split, it can be confusing to figure out where IP rights have gone. Although this case is technically about a motion to compel arbitration, it’s really about following the trail of assignments.
This case reminds me of a scene from the movie Harvey. Jimmy Stewart plays Elwood P. Dowd, and it’s one line of his in particular that seems appropriate.
Learning Curve Brands v. Munchkin, Inc., No. 2011–1036 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 30, 2012) (Judges Bryson, Mayer, and Moore) (non-precedential) The case started when Learning Curve successfully sued Munchkin for infringing its sippy cups patents in 2007. Munchkin changed its design, going with screw-on lids, replacing the snap-on lids it had used before. Learning Curve sued [...]
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