Justia Patents Opinion Summaries

This appeal arose out of a contract dispute between Verint and Tekelec where Tekelec sought a right to payment stemming from a patent dispute between two corporate entities not directly involved in this appeal. The district court awarded summary judgment to Tekelec and denied Verint's cross-motion for summary judgment. The court rejected Verint's claims that Tekelc lacked constitutional standing to enforce its right to the payments at issue. Because the court concluded that Verint's fixed, contractual payment obligations under the Blue Pumpkin/IEX Agreement unambiguously fell outside of the scope of the subsequent Verint/NICE Settlement's boilerplate Non-Accrual Clause, the court need not consider Tekelec's alternative argument that the disputed payments accrued prior to the effective date of the Verint/NICE Settlement. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Tekelec, Inc. v. Verint Systems, Inc." on Justia Law

The patents relate to a method of drug delivery via the mucous membrane lining or mucosa in the oral cavity. The oral mucosal route provides direct access to the bloodstream without having to travel through the gastrointestinal tract, which allows the drug to avoid the “first pass effect,” the percentage of drug lost to metabolization in the liver. Drug delivery across the oral mucosa potentially provides patients with rapid onset of action at a lower dosage. The patents disclose use of effervescent agents used as penetration enhancers, which influence drug absorption across the buccal, sublingual and gingival mucosae and use of an additional pH adjusting substance in combination with an effervescent agent for promoting the absorption. Watson filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application for a generic version of FENTORA®. In response, Cephalon instituted a patent infringement suit. The district court found that Watson’s ANDA products did not infringe and held the asserted patents invalid for lack of enablement. The Federal Circuit reversed on the issue of enablement, holding that Watson failed as a matter of law to show with clear and convincing evidence that Cephalon’s patents require undue experimentation to practice the invention. The court upheld the noninfringement finding. View "Cephalon, Inc. v. Watson Pharm., Inc. " on Justia Law

FM sued Google for infringing three patents relating to advertising on multiple outlets such as newspapers and websites. The specification characterizes the prior art as inefficient because it requires advertisers to manually ensure that their ads conform to the differing requirements of each advertising venue. The invention is designed to eliminate this inefficiency by automatically formatting the ads to fit each publisher’s requirements and sending them out for publication. In each of the patents, a “central computer” coordinates interactions between sellers (wishing to place ads), media venues, and buyers (targets of the ads). The central computer hosts a number of databases and software processes, including the presentation rules database and the Presentation Generating Program. The district court invalidated of one of FM’s patents as indefinite and a jury found that two others were invalid and not infringed. The Federal Circuit affirmed, rejecting arguments that the court abdicated to the jury its responsibility to construe disputed claim terms; that the court incorrectly denied its motion for a new trial on the grounds that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence; and that the verdicts of infringement and invalidity are irreconcilable. View "Function Media, L.L.C. v. Google, Inc." on Justia Law

SEL owns the 463 patent, which names Nagata as a co-inventor. During prosecution in 1991, Nagata assigned his rights to applications and patents related to the patent to SEL’s founder Yamazaki, and subsequently signed a substitute Declaration and Assignment of those applications and patents. From 2002 to 2003, Nagata assisted SEL in a patent infringement suit against another party and was paid for his cooperation and services. In 2009, SEL sued Samsung and others for infringement and contacted Nagata for further assistance, but learned that Nagata had agreed to assist Samsung as a fact witness. Nagata gave testimony repudiating his signature on the 1991 Declarations and Assignments. Samsung then claimed that the patents, including the 463 patent, were unenforceable due to inequitable conduct. SEL sued Nagata, alleging violation of patent law, anticipatory breach of contract, slander of title, and unjust enrichment. The district court dismissed the federal claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1338(a). The Federal Circuit affirmed; there is no federal cause of action based on assignor estoppel. View "Semiconductor Energy Lab. Co., Inc. v. Nagata" on Justia Law

Before the mid-2000s, automobile manufacturers used a refrigerant called R-134a for automobile air conditioners. In 2006 the European Union enacted regulations requiring automobiles to use refrigerants with low “global warming potential.” The U.S. has not adopted similar regulations, but U.S. and foreign automobile manufacturers are both transitioning to 1234yf, which has a low global warming potential, and has become “remarkably successful,” according to Honeywell. Both Arkema and Honeywell wish to supply the industry with 1234yf, and both have invested substantial resources in its production. Arkema built a manufacturing facility in France and plans to build another facility to meet growing demand. Honeywell has a plant in New York and is developing a larger facility in Louisiana. Honeywell owns a number of patents relating to 1234yf. Arkema sought a declaratory judgment that by entering into contracts to supply 1234yf, it would not incur liability as an indirect infringer under the patents. The district court concluded that there was no justiciable controversy. The Federal Circuit reversed to allow Arkema to supplement. View "Arkema, Inc. v. Honeywell Int'l, Inc." on Justia Law

Accent’s 877 and 992 patents arose from the same patent application and share a nearly identical specification, disclosing a wire tier device that is used to bale recyclables or solid waste for easier handling. Accent claims that its 470 wire tire device is the commercial embodiment of the patents and that Leggett obtained a 470 device, studied, and eventually began selling its own copy of the 470 device (Leggett Pinnacle wire tire device). Accent acknowledges differences between the devices. Accent filed suit, asserting claims for infringement of the patents and a claim for violation of Mo. Rev. Stat. 417.450–.467. The Federal Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Leggett with respect to construction of the terms “each” and “a respective one,” but affirmed summary judgment to Leggett with respect to other claims and dismissal of Accent’s Missouri Uniform Trade Secrets Act claims.View "Accent Packaging, Inv. v. Leggett & Platt, Inc." on Justia Law

The Tote Towel is a large towel with binding around all the edges, zippered pockets at both ends, and an angled cloth loop in the middle. Hall applied for a design patent for the Tote Towel in 2008 and began producing the item soon after the filing, with a label marked “patent pending.” While the application was pending, Hall contacted Bed Bath & Beyond to discuss whether BB&B would sell the Tote Towel at retail stores. Hall left samples of packaged Tote Towels with BB&B. The package and the towel were marked “patent pending.” BB&B had copies of the Hall towel manufactured in Pakistan, for retail sale by BB&B. The patent issued, and Hall sued for patent infringement, unfair competition under the Lanham Act, and for misappropriation under New York law. The district court dismissed all claims and counterclaims on the pleadings. The Federal Circuit held that the counts of patent infringement, unfair competition, and misappropriation were not subject to dismissal on the pleadings, but affirmed dismissal of claims against BB&B executives who had been sued in their personal capacities, and affirmed dismissal of the counterclaims. View "Hall v. Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc." on Justia Law

Ethypharm, a French corporation, contracted with Reliant, an American company. Ethypharm would manufacture and provide its drug (Antara®); Reliant would obtain approval and market the drug. Reliant sought FDA approval under 21 U.S.C. 505(b)(2), using data from an approved, fenofibrate drug, TriCor®, developed by Fournier and distributed in the U.S. by Abbott. Antara received approval. Reliant began marketing and sought a declaration of non-infringement or unenforceability of Abbott’s patents. Abbott counterclaimed. In 2006, the companies settled: Abbott and Fournier would license the patents to Reliant and Reliant would pay royaltys. The agreement prohibited Reliant from assigning its rights to or partnering with specific companies. Reliant sold its rights to Oscient, which was not a prohibited purchaser. Losing market share to generic fenofibrate, Oscient discontinued promotion of Antara and filed for bankruptcy. Ethypharm sued Abbott, alleging antitrust and sham litigation under 15 U.S.C. 1, asserting that the settlement agreement was designed to ensure that Antara would be marketed by a company with “limited resources and a relatively small sales force,” so that it could not effectively compete with TriCor and that the royalty payment weakened Antara’s profitability. The district court granted Abbott summary judgment. The Third Circuit vacated, holding that Ethypharm lacked standing under the Sherman Act. View "Ethypharm SA France v. Abbott Labs" on Justia Law

In 2003 Habasit filed an infringement suit against Rexnord, then filed a request for reexamination of the 680 patent, which describes a mechanical conveyor belt that is formed of rows of belt modules interlinked by transverse rods. The interlinked modules form an endless belt that is capable of following a curved path. The spaces between the belt modules are blocked by plastic “webs” so that the spaces are too small to pinch small items such as a finger. The district court stayed the suit pending reexamination. The examiner held all of the claims in the 680 patent unpatentable for anticipation and obviousness. The PTO Board reversed and held the claims patentable. The Federal Circuit affirmed that the claims were not anticipated, but reversed and held that the claimed invention was obvious in view of prior art. View "Rexnord Indus., LLC v. Kappos" on Justia Law

The 314 patent, its continuation, the 492 patent, and the 639 patent, relate to electronic commerce; products are offered and purchased through computers interconnected by a network. The patents arise from a software system called “Transact,” developed in 1996 by Open Market. In 2001 Open Market was sold, with the Transact software and patents, to Divine, which was unable to provide support for the complex product and declared bankruptcy. Soverain acquired the Transact software and patents, then sued seven online retailers for patent infringement. The defendants, except Newegg, took paid up licenses to the patents. Newegg declined to pay, stating that its system is materially different and that the patents are invalid if given the scope asserted by Soverain: similar electronic commerce systems were known before the system; the Transact software was generally abandoned; and Newegg’s system, based on the different principle of using “cookies” on the buyer’s computer to collect shopping data, is outside of the claims. The district court awarded Soverain damages and an ongoing royalty and held that the claims were not invalid as obvious. The Federal Circuit reversed in part, holding that claims in the all of the patents are invalid for obviousness. View "Soverain Software, LLC v. Newegg, Inc." on Justia Law