Justia Patents Opinion Summaries

Merck Patent GmbH owns U.S. Patent No. 10,647,861, which relates to α-alumina flakes used in various applications such as paints and cosmetics. CQV Co., Ltd. petitioned the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) for post-grant review of claims 1-22 of the '861 patent, arguing that the claims were unpatentable due to obviousness based on prior art references, including a product known as Xirallic®. The PTAB concluded that CQV failed to show by a preponderance of the evidence that any of the challenged claims were unpatentable.The PTAB found that CQV did not adequately demonstrate that the Xirallic® lot used for Sample C qualified as prior art under the relevant critical dates. Consequently, the PTAB did not consider Xirallic® in its analysis and determined that CQV had not proven the claims were unpatentable. CQV appealed the PTAB's decision, arguing that the Board's decision was not supported by substantial evidence and that it failed to consider relevant evidence.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case. The court found that the PTAB had not adequately considered the entirety of the evidence, particularly the unrebutted testimony regarding the availability of Sample C. The court noted that the PTAB must consider all relevant evidence and provide a satisfactory explanation for its decisions. The Federal Circuit vacated the PTAB's decision and remanded the case for further proceedings, instructing the PTAB to reassess whether Sample C was available as prior art by the critical dates and to provide a clear explanation of its findings. View "CQV CO., LTD. v. MERCK PATENT GMBH " on Justia Law

Sisvel S.p.A. owns U.S. Patent No. 7,869,396, which relates to a data transmission and retransmission method in a wireless communication system. The patent describes a method where data is packaged into protocol data units (PDUs) and assigned sequence numbers. The method includes a variation of the automatic repeat request (ARQ) method, where a receiver activates a timer when a PDU is detected as missing. If the missing PDU is not received before the timer expires, a reception failure is reported to the transmitter. If the missing PDU is received before the timer expires, the timer is stopped.The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) held claims 1, 2, and 6–8 of the '396 patent to be unpatentable as anticipated by and obvious in view of International Patent Application Publication No. WO 02/091659 (Sachs). However, the Board held that claims 3–5, 9, and 10 were not shown to be unpatentable. Appellants Sierra Wireless, ULC; Honeywell International Inc.; and Telit Cinterion Deutschland GmbH appealed the Board’s decision regarding claims 3–5, 9, and 10. Sisvel cross-appealed the Board’s decision regarding claims 1, 2, and 6–8.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case. The court found that the Board erred in its construction of the claim limitations and that its finding that Sachs disclosed certain limitations was not supported by substantial evidence. The court also determined that the Board abused its discretion by relying on testimony from Sisvel’s expert, Mr. Bates, without finding that he was qualified as an ordinarily skilled artisan.The Federal Circuit vacated the Board’s holdings that claims 1, 2, and 6–8 were unpatentable and remanded the case for further proceedings. The court did not reach the arguments regarding the patentability of claims 3–5, 9, and 10 due to the vacatur of the independent claims. View "SIERRA WIRELESS, ULC v. SISVEL S.P.A. " on Justia Law

AliveCor, Inc. appealed from three final written decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) in related inter partes reviews (IPRs) that found all claims of its three patents unpatentable over certain prior art. The patents in question relate to systems and methods for measuring and analyzing physiological data to detect cardiac arrhythmias. The Board found the claims unpatentable based on obviousness and AliveCor's forfeiture of its discovery challenge.The Board's decisions were based on the combination of prior art references, including Hu 1997 and Li 2012, which teach the use of machine learning to assess ECG data, and Shmueli, which describes a system for detecting irregular heart conditions using PPG and ECG data. The Board found that a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to use machine learning in the context of PPG and ECG data to detect cardiac arrhythmias, and that Shmueli teaches the step of confirming arrhythmias using ECG measurements after detecting a potential arrhythmia using PPG.AliveCor argued that the Board erred in its obviousness findings and that Apple violated its discovery obligations by not producing secondary consideration evidence from a parallel ITC proceeding. However, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that the Board's findings were supported by substantial evidence, including expert testimony, and that AliveCor forfeited its discovery argument by failing to raise it with the Board.The Federal Circuit affirmed the Board's decisions, concluding that the machine learning claims were obvious over the prior art and that the Board's interpretation of Shmueli was reasonable. The court also held that AliveCor's failure to present its discovery concerns to the Board precluded it from raising the issue on appeal. View "ALIVECOR, INC. v. APPLE INC. " on Justia Law

Vicor Corporation supplied power converter modules to Foxconn for years. Vicor alleged that Foxconn switched to manufacturing and importing knock-off modules that infringed Vicor's patents. In July 2023, Vicor filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging patent infringement by Foxconn. Simultaneously, Vicor sued Foxconn for patent infringement in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, which stayed the case pending the ITC's resolution. Foxconn then initiated arbitration in China, claiming Vicor had agreed to arbitrate disputes based on terms in purchase orders. Vicor filed a new lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, seeking to enjoin the arbitration and declare it was not bound by the arbitration or license terms.The district court granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) and later a preliminary injunction against the arbitration, despite Foxconn's request for a stay under 28 U.S.C. § 1659. The court acknowledged that Section 1659 applied but concluded it could still grant preliminary relief based on the All Writs Act and its inherent authority to preserve its jurisdiction.The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reviewed the case. The court concluded that Section 1659 required the district court to stay proceedings because Vicor's claims involved issues also present in the ITC proceeding. The appellate court held that the district court erred in granting the preliminary injunction despite Foxconn's request for a stay. Consequently, the First Circuit vacated the preliminary injunction and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. View "Vicor Corp. v. FII USA Inc." on Justia Law

ImmunoGen, Inc. sought a patent for a dosing regimen for administering IMGN853, a drug used to treat ovarian and peritoneal cancers. The patent application claimed a specific dosing method using adjusted ideal body weight (AIBW). The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected the claims, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board affirmed the rejection. ImmunoGen then filed a civil action under 35 U.S.C. § 145 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, seeking a judgment that it was entitled to the patent.The district court initially granted summary judgment in favor of the government, finding the claims indefinite and obvious, and unpatentable under the doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting. The Federal Circuit vacated this decision and remanded the case for further proceedings. On remand, the district court held a bench trial and again ruled in favor of the government, determining that the claims were fatally indefinite and obvious, and thus unpatentable.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case. The court affirmed the district court's judgment on the grounds of obviousness, finding that a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to use AIBW dosing to address known toxicities associated with the drug and would have had a reasonable expectation of success. The court noted that the prior art disclosed similar dosing regimens and that the claimed dosing method was within the knowledge of a skilled artisan. The Federal Circuit did not address the issue of indefiniteness, as the obviousness determination was sufficient to affirm the judgment. View "IMMUNOGEN, INC. v. STEWART " on Justia Law

Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corp. filed a patent application for a web service interface for transit time calculation in 2007. The application was rejected by a patent examiner in 2015, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) affirmed the rejection in 2018. Odyssey appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which affirmed the PTAB's decision in 2020. Odyssey did not raise an Appointments Clause challenge during this appeal.After the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Arthrex, Inc. in 2021, which held that PTAB administrative judges' unreviewable authority violated the Appointments Clause, Odyssey requested Director review of the PTAB's 2018 decision. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) denied this request, stating that it did not accept requests for Director review of ex parte appeal decisions. Odyssey then filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, seeking to compel the Director to consider its request. The district court dismissed the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case and affirmed the district court's dismissal, but on different grounds. The Federal Circuit concluded that the PTO did not abuse its discretion in denying Odyssey's request for Director review, noting that Odyssey had forfeited its Appointments Clause challenge by not raising it during the initial appeal. The court held that the PTO's decision to deny the request for review was reasonable given the significant delay and lack of justification for Odyssey's failure to raise the issue earlier. The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court's decision for failure to state a claim for relief under Rule 12(b)(6). View "ODYSSEY LOGISTICS & TECHNOLOGY CORP. v. STEWART" on Justia Law

Lashify, Inc., an American company, distributes and sells eyelash extensions and related products in the United States, which are manufactured abroad. Lashify holds patents on these products and filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging that other importers were infringing on its patents, specifically a utility patent (U.S. Patent No. 10,721,984) and two design patents (U.S. Design Patent Nos. D877,416 and D867,664). Lashify sought relief under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which requires the existence of a domestic industry related to the patented articles.The ITC denied Lashify relief, ruling that Lashify failed to meet the economic-prong requirement of the domestic-industry test, which demands significant investment in plant and equipment, significant employment of labor or capital, or substantial investment in exploitation of the patents. The ITC excluded expenses related to sales, marketing, warehousing, quality control, and distribution, deeming them insufficient to establish a domestic industry. Additionally, the ITC found that Lashify's products did not satisfy the technical-prong requirement for the utility patent, as the products did not meet the "heat fused" claim limitations.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case. The court agreed with Lashify that the ITC applied an incorrect legal standard for the economic-prong requirement. The court held that significant employment of labor or capital should include expenses related to sales, marketing, warehousing, quality control, and distribution. The court vacated the ITC's decision on the economic prong and remanded for reevaluation regarding the design patents. However, the court affirmed the ITC's finding that Lashify failed to satisfy the technical-prong requirement for the utility patent, upholding the construction of "heat fused" to mean joined to form a single entity. View "LASHIFY, INC. v. ITC " on Justia Law

Apple Inc., LG Electronics Inc., LG Electronics USA Inc., and Google LLC filed petitions for inter partes review (IPR) of U.S. Patent No. 7,933,431, which relates to camera-based sensing in handheld devices. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) joined the petitions and issued a final written decision, holding claims 1–10, 12, and 14–31 unpatentable, while claims 11 and 13 were not found unpatentable.Apple appealed the PTAB's decision regarding claims 11 and 13, arguing that the Board applied the wrong legal standard for obviousness and ignored Apple's arguments. Gesture Technology Partners, LLC cross-appealed the decision, arguing that claims 1, 7, 12, and 14 were not unpatentable and that the Board lacked jurisdiction over expired patents.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case. The court found that Gesture forfeited its argument that Apple was estopped from appealing under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(1) because Gesture did not raise this issue before the Board. On the merits, the court affirmed the PTAB's decision that claims 11 and 13 were not shown to be unpatentable, finding that the Board did not misapply the legal standard for obviousness and did not violate the Administrative Procedure Act.Regarding Gesture's cross-appeal, the court held that substantial evidence supported the Board's findings that Numazaki taught the disputed limitations of claims 1, 7, 12, and 14. The court also rejected Gesture's argument that the Board lacked jurisdiction over expired patents, affirming that the Board has jurisdiction over IPRs concerning expired patents.The Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB's decision in its entirety, holding that claims 1–10, 12, and 14–31 of the '431 patent are unpatentable and that claims 11 and 13 were not shown to be unpatentable. View "APPLE INC. v. GESTURE TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS, LLC " on Justia Law

Restem, LLC (Restem) appealed a decision from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) regarding U.S. Patent No. 9,803,176, owned by Jadi Cell, LLC (Jadi Cell). The patent is related to stem cells with specific cell markers obtained from the subepithelial layer (SL) of mammalian umbilical cord tissue through a two-step process. Restem challenged claims 1–15 of the patent, arguing they were inherently anticipated or obvious based on prior art references.The Board held that Restem failed to prove the claims were unpatentable. The Board found that the prior art did not necessarily produce cells with the claimed cell marker expression profile, and thus did not inherently anticipate the claims. Additionally, the Board found that the prior art did not render the claims obvious, as the specific cell marker expression profile was not shown to be produced by the prior art processes.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case. The court affirmed the Board's decision, agreeing that the prior art did not inherently anticipate the claims because the processes disclosed did not necessarily result in cells with the claimed marker profile. The court also upheld the Board's finding that the claims were not obvious, as Restem did not provide sufficient evidence to show that the prior art would produce the claimed cell marker expression profile. The court concluded that the Board's findings were supported by substantial evidence and affirmed the decision in favor of Jadi Cell. View "RESTEM, LLC v. JADI CELL, LLC " on Justia Law

US Synthetic Corp. (USS) filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (Commission) alleging that several intervenors violated 19 U.S.C. § 1337 by importing and selling products that infringe five of USS’s patents. The focus of this appeal is U.S. Patent No. 10,508,502 (’502 patent), which claims a polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) with specific structural and magnetic properties.The Commission instituted an investigation, and the administrative law judge (ALJ) determined that the asserted claims of the ’502 patent were infringed and not invalid under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102, 103, or 112. However, the ALJ found the claims patent ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101, as they were directed to an abstract idea. The Commission reviewed and affirmed the ALJ’s determination, concluding that the claims were directed to the abstract idea of achieving desired magnetic properties, which were seen as side effects of the manufacturing process.The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed the case. The court concluded that the asserted claims of the ’502 patent are not directed to an abstract idea but to a specific, non-abstract composition of matter defined by its constituent elements, dimensional information, and quantified material properties. The court found that the magnetic properties are integrally related to the structure of the PDC and are not merely side effects. Therefore, the claims are not directed to an abstract idea under Alice step one, and the court did not reach Alice step two.The court also addressed the alternative argument that the claims were not enabled. The court found no error in the Commission’s conclusion that the claims were enabled, as the respondents failed to prove a lack of enablement by clear and convincing evidence. The court reversed the Commission’s conclusion on patent ineligibility, affirmed the enablement conclusion, and remanded the case. View "US SYNTHETIC CORP. v. ITC " on Justia Law