Justia Patents Opinion Summaries

Cross Match claimed that Suprema and Mentalix violated 19 U.S.C. 1337(a)(1)(B)(i) by importing articles that infringe or are used to infringe its patents. The International Trade Commission entered a limited exclusion order barring importation of certain optical scanning devices, finding that Mentalix directly infringed a method claim by using its own software with imported Suprema scanners and found that Suprema induced that infringement and that certain of Suprema’s imported optical scanners directly infringe other claims of the 993 patent. The Commission found no infringement of the 562 patent. The Commission held that Suprema and Mentalix failed to prove that the 993 patent was invalid as obvious over two prior art patents. The Federal Circuit vacated and remanded for revision of the order to bar only a subset of the scanners. An exclusion order based on a section 1337(a)(1)(B)(i) violation may not be predicated on a theory of induced infringement under 35 U.S.C. 271(b) where direct infringement does not occur until after importation of the articles the exclusion order would bar. View "Suprema, inc. v. Int'l Trade Comm'n" on Justia Law

Tolmar’s filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) seeking approval to market a generic version of Differin® Gel, 0.3%, a topical medication containing 0.3% by weight adapalene approved for the treatment of acne. Galderma sued Tolmar, alleging that Tolmar’s ANDA product infringed its patents. The district court ruled against Tolmar, finding the Galderma patents not invalidity for obviousness under 35 U.S.C.103. The Federal Circuit reversed, after examining prior art. While the comparable tolerability of 0.1% and 0.3% adapalene was unexpected in view of the prior art, a skilled artisan would have expected that tripling the concentration of adapalene would have resulted in a clinically significant increase in side effects, so the result does not constitute an unexpected result that is probative of nonobviousness. The commercial success of Differin® is of “minimal probative value.” View "Galderma Labs, L.P. v. Tolmar, Inc." on Justia Law

Access sells software for mobile communication, owns the patents at issue, and entered into an exclusive license agreement with APAC, a subsidiary of Acacia. The agreement gave APAC the exclusive right to grant sublicenses, to sue for damages and to seek relief for infringement of the patents. The agreement disclaims third-party-beneficiary rights, states that APAC may not enforce the patents against, or seek licenses to practice the patents from, Access’s customers and end-users in connection with Access’s products and services, and states that APAC and Access consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of any California state or federal court. APAC assigned all of its rights and liabilities in the patents to a wholly owned subsidiary, SmartPhone. SmartPhone sued Huawei, which makes mobile handsets and tablets, in Texas, alleging that Huawei products infringe the patents. Huawei then sued SmartPhone, Acacia Research, and Access in California, alleging that Huawei has been an Access customer for more than 10 years and seeking declaratory judgments of noninfringement. Based on the Texas filing, the district court dismissed the noninfringement and invalidity counts under the first-to-file rule. Dismissing remaining counts, the court stated that.an allegation that the parties intended Huawei to benefit from the license agreement conflicted with its terms. The Federal Circuit affirmed. View "Futurewei Tech., Inc. v. Acacia Research Corp." on Justia Law

Apple sued Samsung, alleging infringement of Apple patents and dilution of Apple’s trade dress. Samsung counterclaimed, alleging infringement of its own patents. A jury returned a verdict substantially in Apple’s favor, finding that 26 Samsung smartphones and tablets infringed Apple patents and that six Samsung smartphones diluted Apple’s registered iPhone trade dress and unregistered iPhone 3G trade dress. The jury rejected Samsung’s infringement counterclaims and awarded Apple more than $1 billion. The district court set aside a portion of the damages award for certain products and scheduled a partial new trial on damages, but affirmed the jury’s liability findings. The court denied Apple’s request for a permanent injunction. The Federal Circuit affirmed the denial of injunctive relief with respect to design patents and trade dress, but vacated the denial with respect to Apple’s utility patents. The court noted that Samsung has stopped selling the products found to dilute trade dress, but that, with respect to the utility patents, the court must assess whether Apple’s evidence suffices to establish irreparable injury. View "Apple, Inv. v. Samsung Elecs. Co." on Justia Law

OWW owns related patents directed to cushioning devices that fit over the residual stumps of amputated limbs to make the use of prosthetics more comfortable. Some of the patents have been asserted in patent infringement suits and many have been involved in reexamination proceedings before the Patent and Trademark Office. OWW sued Alps for infringement of the 237 patent, entitled “Gel and Cushioning Devices,” lists Kania as the sole inventor and has an application date of 1996. The district court issued its claim construction order. Alps subsequently initiated the first of two consecutive ex parte reexaminations of the 237 patent. After a stay was lifted, the district court granted summary judgment to Alps, finding certain claims invalid due to the collateral estoppel effect of parallel litigation and other claims invalid for obviousness. The district court also granted OWW summary judgment of no inequitable conduct. The Federal Circuit affirmed on the issues of collateral estoppel and obviousness, but reversed and remanded on the issue of inequitable conduct. Issues of material fact regarding whether OWW committed inequitable conduct during the reexamination proceedings by withholding information preclude summary judgment.View "Ohio Willow Wood Co. v. ALPS South, LLC" on Justia Law

IL-13 is a regulatory molecule called a cytokine. Cytokines interact with cytokine receptors located on target cells. Sanofi and Pfizer were conducting research, for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes, and each discovered and filed patent applications directed to the polynucleotide encoding the IL-13 protein binding chain. The patent is awarded to the first applicant to conceive and reduce to practice the invention represented by an interference count, in accordance with Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) rules. Sanofi had a December 6, 1995 priority date. Pfizer’s filing date was March 1, 1996; Pfizer bore the burden of proving a date of conception earlier than Sanofi’s date. Pfizer presented evidence that it had isolated and identified the desired cDNA before that date, but, due to sequencing errors, did not then have a completely accurate analysis of the entire nucleotide sequence. The PTO Board found that Pfizer had “the claimed polynucleotide in hand with some additional identifying information including at least a partial sequence,” and ruled that Pfizer “established conception and actual reduction to practice of a polynucleotide within the scope of count 3” before the Sanofi date. The Federal Circuit affirmed; possession and appreciation of the actual isolated DNA is dispositive for priority of conception for an interference count directed to isolated DNA.View "Sanofi-Aventis v. Pfizer, Inc." on Justia Law

The patent concerns blood glucose monitoring systems, used by individuals with diabetes. Such systems typically consist of an electrochemical meter and disposable test strips onto which the user places a drop of blood. The strip contains “working electrodes” or “reference electrodes,” that connect to the meter during operation. Each working electrode is coated with an enzyme and a mediator. The enzyme reacts with glucose in the blood sample, releasing electrons. The mediator then transfers those electrons to the working electrode, which is connected to the meter, which measures the resulting electric current to determine blood glucose level. Meters and test strips of this general design became available in the 1980s. LifeScan’s patent claims to improve earlier systems with a method of comparing measurements from separate working electrodes. Significant differences in the readings of the working electrodes indicate problems such as inadequate sample volume or manufacturing defects, and the readings are to be discarded. A reference electrode on the strip serves as a common reference for both working electrodes. LifeScan manufactures such a system, the “OneTouch Ultra” and claimed infringement by defendant. The district court found likely infringement and entered an injunction. The Federal Circuit reversed, finding that defendant established a patent exhaustion defense. View "Lifescan Scotland, Ltd. v. Shasta Tech., LLC" on Justia Law

Probe cards are used to test chips on semiconductor wafers. Probes have tips that make contact with bonding pads on the periphery of each chip, initially pierce the oxide layer atop the conductive layer of the bonding pad, then are moved along the pads to a second position to create a reliable electrical contact, leaving a “scrub mark” on the bonding pad in the process. ITC sued Rudolph for infringement of the patent, which discloses a digital viewing system to assess whether probes have become misaligned relative to each other by predicting the length and location of scrub marks. The system includes a camera under a viewing window that obtains the three-dimensional coordinates of the probe tips in first and second states. The district court entered summary judgment, finding infringement. The Federal Circuit reversed in part and affirmed in part. Prosecution history estoppel precludes the application of the doctrine of equivalents and a willfulness finding predicated on that judgment and a corresponding award of enhanced damages must, therefore, be vacated. The court affirmed the award of damages for literal infringement.View "Integrated Tech. Corp. v. Rudolph Tech., Inc." on Justia Law

FG and Randall are competitors, selling products for refrigerated trucks. Both parties manufacture moveable, track-mounted bulkheads (partitions) for dividing cargo space. FG’s patent, issued in 2007, discloses partitioning apparatuses that include two half-width panels independently mounted on the ceiling of the shipping container by rail-and-trolley assemblies, so that panels can be strapped together to form a full-width partition, separately moved along the container’s length for separate positioning or raised and stowed against the ceiling. Randall requested inter partes reexamination of the patent, and the Patent and Trademark Office examiner rejected a number of FG’s claims as obvious over a combination of prior-art references. The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences reversed, unable to discern any reason that one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the cited references. The Federal Circuit vacated, stating that the Board failed to consider a wealth of well-documented knowledge that is highly material to evaluating the motivation to combine references to arrive at the claimed invention.View "Randall Mfg. v. Rea" on Justia Law

Synthes filed suit, alleging that SK’s M6-C and M6-L intervertebral implants infringed claims of a Synthes patent that is directed to an “Intervertebral Implant,” a prosthetic device designed to replace a diseased or degenerated disc located between adjacent vertebrae of the human spine. The Synthes patent originated from a German language Patent Cooperation Treaty application filed in 2003. The asserted claims were added by amendment in 2008. A jury found that SK’s implants did not infringe the asserted claims and that the claims were invalid for lack of written description. The Federal Circuit affirmed both the finding of invalidity and the district court’s denial of SK’s request for attorneys’ fees.View "Synthes USA LLV v. Spinal Kintetics, Inc." on Justia Law