The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) recently reviewed a new issue not previously before it regarding whether a party was estopped from presenting invalidity arguments in district court after the Patent Trial and Appeal Board...
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Case Updates
Federal Circuit Clarifies When Patents May Be Invalid Under the Obviousness-Type Double Patenting Doctrine
In its precedential decision in August, the Federal Circuit reversed the district court’s ruling which found certain claims of patents covering Allergan’s Viberzi drug invalid for obviousness-type double patenting (“ODP”). Allergan USA, Inc. v. MSN Laboratories...
In Re: Cellect – Invalidity Under the Obviousness-Type Double Patenting Doctrine
In In re Cellect, LLC, the Federal Circuit held that obviousness-type double patenting ("ODP") for a patent that has received a patent term adjustment (PTA), whether or not a terminal disclaimer is required or has been filed, must be based on the expiration date of...
WDTX Denies Motion to Stay Discovery While Motion to Dismiss Is Pending
Defendant filed a motion to stay discovery while its motion to dismiss is pending. Defendant argued in its motion that it will suffer undue burden or expense if discovery is allowed to continue in this case because its pending motion to dismiss may dispose of...
No Recovery of Attorneys’ Fees from IPR Proceedings Or from Counsel Under 35 U.S.C. § 285
On May 20, 2024, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s exercise of discretion to deny recovery of attorneys’ fees from a parallel IPR proceeding and from counsel under 35 U.S.C. § 285, despite finding that the case was extraordinary and...
The Supreme Court’s Extraterritoriality Test in WesternGeco Applies to Section 271(a) Infringement and Reasonable Royalty Damages
Brumfield, Trustee for Ascent Trust v. IBG LLC, No. 2022-1630, --- F.4th ---- (Fed. Cir. Mar. 27, 2024) Trade Technologies International, Inc. (“TT”) (whose successor in interest is Harris Brumfield) sued IBG LLC for infringement of four U.S. patents in the U.S....
Document May Be Prior Art Despite Confidentiality Provisions
On February 8, 2024, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals held that confidentiality provisions do not protect a document from being prior art if that document is intended for engagement with target audience. Weber, Inc. v. Provisur Techs., Inc., 92 F.4th 1059, 1065...
A Party Joining IPR Is Not Limited to Existing Grounds Where Patent Owner Has Introduced New Claims
On January 18, 2024, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals held that a party joining an already-instituted IPR is not limited to the claims and grounds challenged in the IPR where the patent owner has introduced new claims. Cywee Group Ltd., v. ZTE (USA), Inc., LG...
Federal Circuit Refuses to Uphold Collateral Estoppel Based on a Vacated Judgment
On October 13, 2023, the Federal Circuit vacated a judgment of invalidity based on collateral estoppel from a related case. Finjan LLC v. SonicWall, Inc., Case No. 22-1048 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 13, 2023). In that related case, a district court granted summary judgment on...
Petitioner’s IPR Reply: New Argument or Proper in Scope?
On August 11, 2023, the Federal Circuit laid out the permissible scope of a petitioner’s reply in IPR. Before the court was an appeal of PTAB’s findings of unpatentability, on remand, in IPR2016-01502 re U.S. Patent No. 6,548,019. Rembrandt Diagnostics, LP v. Alere,...