Last month, in the case In re: MaxPower Semiconductor, Inc., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“the CAFC”) dismissed an appeal by MaxPower Semiconductor, Inc. (“MaxPower”) of four determinations to institute inter partes review (“IPR”) of four of MaxPower’s patents. The majority’s brief opinion states that a decision to institute an IPR
Appellate Decisions
In Qualcomm v. Intel, Federal Circuit Defends Procedural Rights Before the PTAB
Last month, in Qualcomm Inc. v. Intel Corp., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“the CAFC”) vacated and remanded the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“the Board”) on six inter partes review (“IPR”) decisions that held claims 1-15, 17-25, and 27-33 of Qualcomm’s U.S. Patent No. 9,608,675 (“the ’675 Patent”) unpatentable as…
In United States v. Arthrex, the Supreme Court Delivers A Seemingly Simple Solution That May Prove More Complicated in Practice
This week, in United States v. Arthrex, Inc., the Supreme Court vacated and remanded a decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“the CAFC”), holding that the administrative patent judges (“APJs”) at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“the Board”) are unconstitutionally appointed. While the CAFC came to the same conclusion…
Judge Newman Dissents from the Federal Circuit in New Vision Gaming, Argues “Threshold Issue” of Forum-Selection Clause Must be Addressed First
Earlier this month, in the precedential decision New Vision Gaming & Development, Inc. v. SG Gaming, Inc., FKA Bally Gaming, Inc., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“the CAFC”) vacated and remanded a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“the Board”) on the ground that the decision issued after the…
Improvements to Determinations of Haplotype Phase Patent Ineligible Under § 101
In In re: Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (“Stanford”), No. 2020-1012 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 11, 2021), the Federal Circuit was presented another opportunity to analyze patent-eligible subject matter. In affirming the § 101 rejection of the claims, the court held the mathematical calculations and statistical modeling improvements to determinations of haplotype…
Uniloc v. Facebook: Federal Circuit Rules Against a Finding of Estoppel in Joinder
Earlier this month, in the precedential decision Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Facebook Inc., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“the CAFC”) upheld the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“the Board”) on the issue of estoppel (or lack thereof) when multiple parties file multiple, substantially similar petitions challenging a patent’s patentability.
1) The…
Issue Preclusion Precluded PTAB’s Contrary Result in a Later Inter Partes Reexam
In SynQor, Inc. v. Vicor Corp., Case No. 19-1704 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 22, 2021), the Federal Circuit vacated the inter partes reexamination decision from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”). As part of the decision, the court held that collateral estoppel (issue preclusion) can apply where the Board’s prior determinations involving different…
Mixed Result in M&K Holdings v. Samsung Electronics: Federal Circuit Finds Anticipation not Necessarily Inherent in Obviousness Theory
Earlier this month, in the precedential decision M & K Holdings v. Samsung Electronics Co., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“the CAFC”) upheld the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“the Board”) in finding certain references qualified as printed publications. However, the CAFC found the Board erred in finding that a challenged…
Preambles: Limitation or Not?
In Shoes by Firebug LLC v. Stride Rite Children’s Group, LLC, the Federal Circuit held that the same preamble limits the scope of the claims in one patent, but does not limit the scope of the claims in another patent.
Shoes by Firebug LLC (“Firebug”) owns two U.S. patents – U.S. Patent 8,992,038 (“the…
ABS Global v. Cytonome/St, LLC: Mootness and Preserving the Argument for Vacatur
In 2017, Cytonome filed suit in the Western District of Wisconsin (“the District Court”), accusing ABS of infringing six of its patents, including US Patent No. 8,529,161 (“the ’161 patent”). Subsequently, in October 2017, ABS filed for inter partes review (“IPR”) of the ’161 patent, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“the Board”) issued…