Justia Patents Opinion Summaries

Whoever “invents or discovers and asexually re-produces any distinct and new variety of plant, including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings, other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state, may obtain a patent therefor,” 35 U.S.C. 161. In 1980, Beineke noticed two white oak trees with superior genetic traits, such as excellent timber quality and strong central stem tendency. The trees were in the yard of another and about 105-118 years old. Beineke planted acorns from each. An examiner rejected patent applications because Beineke did not provide evidence that the trees were in a cultivated state. The Board affirmed, finding that the land on which the trees grew had existed as a wooded pasture until a house was constructed around 1930, after the trees began growing; there was no evidence that human activity contributed to the creation of the trees. The Federal Circuit affirmed, without addressing cultivation. Congress recognized that the relevant distinction was not between living and inanimate things, but between products of nature, whether living or not, and human-made inventions.” The trees were not “newly found seedlings,” and do not fall within the broadened protection of the 1954 amendments. View "In re Beineke" on Justia Law

Lovenox (enoxaparin) prevents blood clots. Enoxaparin is a version of heparin. Heparin molecules have considerable diversity in characteristics. Additional diversity is introduced when heparin is broken down, raising a problem with the FDA abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) process. ANDAs are used to obtain approval for a generic version of an existing drug and do not require extensive studies needed to initially prove the drug’s safety and efficacy. Aventis, which marketed Lovenox, asked the FDA to deny ANDA approval for a generic enoxaparin unless the applicant took certain steps. The FDA rejected Aventis’s arguments, stating that ANDA does not describe the information necessary to demonstrate that the active ingredient in the generic product is the same as the active ingredient in the reference drug. The FDA identified its own criteria for determining that generic enoxaparin has the same active ingredient as Lovenox. Amphastar was first to file an ANDA for generic enoxaparin and received FDA approval in2011. Momenta was first to bring generic enoxaparin to market, obtaining FDA approval more than a year earlier. Momenta alleged that Amphastar infringed its patent for analyzing heparin and obtained an injunction. The district court found that Amphastar’s quality control batch testing infringed the patent. The Federal Circuit vacated. The court applied an unduly narrow interpretation of the Hatch-Waxman safe harbor, 35 U.S.C. 271(e)(1).View "Momenta Pharma., Inc. v. Amphastar Pharma, Inc." on Justia Law

Defense contractor Raytheon, specializes in infrared imaging. Indigo, also specializing in infrared imaging, was founded by former Raytheon employees including Woolaway, who promised not to recruit Raytheon employees. Indigo began consulting for Raytheon, governed by Confidential Disclosure Agreements. In 1997, Raytheon became concerned that Indigo was recruiting Raytheon personnel to gain access to trade secrets. The companies settled the matter by agreement. The relationship between Raytheon and Indigo terminated in 2000. In 2000, Indigo won a military contract; in 2003, Indigo was selected over competitors, including Raytheon, to receive another subcontract. In 2004, Raytheon acquired and disassembled an Indigo infrared camera and found what it believed was evidence of patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation. In 2007, Raytheon found a correlation with the expertise of former employees who had departed for Indigo. The district court dismissed claims of trade secret misappropriation as time barred. The Federal Circuit reversed. The district court erred by resolving genuine factual disputes in favor of Indigo, the moving party, and concluding that Raytheon should have discovered its claims before March 2, 2004. View "Raytheon Co. v. Indigo Sys. Inc." on Justia Law

01 Communique is the owner of the 479 Patent, which relates to technology that enables one computer to access another computer remotely via the Internet. The patent contains five independent claims describing systems, methods, and products for enabling such remote access, as well as numerous claims dependent therefrom. It discloses use of a “locator server computer” as an intermediary between a “remote computer” (the computer seeking access) and a “personal computer” (the computer to be accessed). The locator server computer “includes” software, referred to in the patent as a “location facility,” that locates the personal computer. The district court entered summary judgment of noninfringement, based on construction of a single claim term, “location facility.” The Federal Circuit vacated, finding the claim construction erroneous. View "01 Communique Lab., Inc. v. Logmein, Inc." on Justia Law

Grober invented a platform that stabilizes a camera for filming motion pictures from moving vehicles. Known in the entertainment industry as the Perfect Horizon, the technology won Grober an Academy Award in technical achievement. He received a patent, entitled “Autonomous Self Leveling, Self Correcting Stabilized Platform.” for the invention, designed to compensate for motion caused by waves, currents, wind, and other motion during land, air, and sea operations of a camera. Grober claimed infringement. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of defendants. The Federal Circuit vacated the claim construction and the grant of summary judgment and remanded. A patent is infringed if even a single claim is infringed and the district court misconstrued term “payload platform.” View "Grober v. Mako Prods., Inc." on Justia Law

Antor owns the 961 patent relating “to a method and apparatus for transmitting information recorded on digital disks from a central server to subscribers via a high data rate telecommunications network.” The goal of the ’961 patent is to allow subscribers to access and to receive information (digital media such as music, images, documents, video, and software) stored on information systems over a telecommunications network. On reexamination the Patent and Trademark Office rejected the patent as anticipated and obvious over four references. The Federal Circuit affirmed. The Board correctly held that the existence of licenses under the patent is, alone, insufficient to overcome the prima facie case of obviousness View "In re: Antor Media Corp." on Justia Law

The two patents in suit relate to systems for minimizing the cost of placing long-distance telephone calls. Mediatrix manufactures and sells equipment that modifies existing telephone systems to convert them to voice-over-Internet-protocol systems. Over the course of infringement litigation, plaintiff (RTI) was ordered on four separate occasions to respond to a specific contention interrogatory propounded by Mediatrix: “Separately for each claim of the Patents-in-suit that [RTI] contends is infringed, state the basis for that contention, including without limitation, identification on an element-by-element basis of the component, structure, feature, functionality, method or process of each accused Mediatrix product that allegedly satisfies each element.” A magistrate determined that RTI never adequately responded to the interrogatory and that the failure to comply with the court’s orders was willful, and recommended dismissing the case and imposing monetary sanctions against RTI’s attorney, Hicks, and RTI in the amount of $86,965.81, to be split evenly between them. The district court adopted the recommendation. Hicks appealed the monetary sanction. RTI did not appeal. The Federal Circuit affirmed. View "Rates Tech., Inc. v. Mediatrix Telecom, Inc." on Justia Law

Bancorp owns the 792 and 037 patents, for tracking value of life insurance policies in separate accounts, under which the policy owner pays a premium beyond that required for the death benefit and specifies types of assets in which additional funds are invested. Corporations use the policies to insure employees’ lives and fund retirement benefits on a tax-advantaged basis. The value of a separate account policy fluctuates; owners must report the value of their policies. The patents provide a computerized means for tracking book and market values and calculating stable value guarantee. Bancorp sued Sun Life for infringement. In another suit, the court invalidated the 792 patent for indefiniteness. Bancorp and Sun Life stipulated to conditional dismissal on collateral estoppel. The Federal Circuit reversed the other case. The district court vacated dismissal then granted summary judgment of invalidity under section 101 (ineligible abstract ideas) without addressing claim construction and analyzing each claim as a process claim. Applying “the machine-or-transformation test,” specified computer components are only objects on which claimed methods operate, and the central processor is a general purpose computer programmed in an unspecified manner for a process that can be completed manually. The claims “do not transform the raw data into anything other than more data and are not representations of any physically existing objects.” The Federal Circuit affirmed. View "Bancorp Servs., L.L.C. v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada" on Justia Law

LG took a license from Wi-LAN’s predecessor for a patent concerning V-chip technology for ratings-based blocking of television programs. LG subsequently claimed that it owed no royalties because its televisions did not practice Wi-LAN’s technology. Wi-LAN forwarded to LG a letter written by outside counsel (Townsend), naming Wi-LAN’s general counsel and vice president, as addressee. It was marked “CONFIDENTIAL” and contained analysis of Wi-LAN’s patent rights as applied to LG’s technology, opining that LG was practicing Wi-LAN’s technology and owed royalties. Wi-LAN’s disclosure of the letter was an intentional effort to convince LG to revise its position and pay royalties. Wi-LAN later sued for patent infringement, identifying Townsend as litigation counsel. LG served a subpoena on Townsend for documents and testimony relating to the subject matter of the letter, claiming that any privilege was absolutely waived by voluntary disclosure of the letter. Townsend unsuccessfully argued that any waiver should be limited to the letter. The district court found Townsend in contempt, and entered sanctions in the amount of LG’s costs and fees. The Federal Circuit vacated and remanded. The district court erred by rejecting considerations of fairness: whether LG would be unfairly prejudiced by assertion of privilege beyond the four corners of the letter. View "Wi-LAN, Inc. v. LG Elecs., Inc." on Justia Law

In 2004, Loughlin filed application 624, which issued in 2008, as the 426 patent. In 2007, Ling filed the 404 application, which was granted priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. 120, from application 413, filed in January, 2004. All claim a “multiple function lock.” Ling, seeking to provoke an interference, copied claims from pending application 624. In 2010, the Patent and Trademark Office declared an interference between claim 1 of the 426 patent and claim 31 of Ling’s 404 application. Loughlin asserted that, under 35 U.S.C. 135(b)(2), Ling was barred from provoking an interference because Ling’s attempt to copy the claim from Loughlin’s published application was untimely; Ling’s 404 application is “an application filed” after the publication date of Loughlin’s 624 application and Ling copied Loughlin’s claim more than one year after its publication date. The Board denied Loughlin’s motion, finding that the bar does not apply to an application filed before a published application. Ling’s 404 application, having an effective filing date of January 2004, was not an application filed after Loughlin’s application, published November 2004. The Board cancelled claim 1 of the 426 patent. The Federal Circuit affirmed. View "Loughlin v. Ling" on Justia Law