Because of insufficiencies in a plaintiff’s infringement contentions, a plaintiff was precluded from asserting the doctrine of equivalents (DOE) concerning any claim, and was also precluded from asserting any infringement with respect to one means-plus-function claim. Dynetix Design Solutions v. Synopsys, Inc., No. C 11-5973 PSG (N.D. Cal. Aug. 22, 2013). Regarding the doctrine of […]
Archive | August, 2013
Federal Circuit Reverses Decision to Unseal Documents in Apple-Samsung Litigation
The Federal Circuit has reversed District Judge Koh’s order that certain confidential documents of both Apple and Samsung be unsealed in those parties’ high-profile patent litigation. Apple, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Nos. 1012-1600, 1606, 2013-1146 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 23, 2013). Because filing papers under seal is such a routine part of patent (and […]
Computerized Bingo Claims Held Not Patent-Eligible
Following Judge Lourie’s plurality opinion in the recent CLS Bank case heard en banc by the Federal Circuit, the court in Planet Bingo v. VKGS, No. 1:12-CV-219 (W.D. Mich. Aug. 19, 2013), held that claims directed to a computerized bingo game were not patent eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Specifically, the claims of U.S. Patent Nos. […]
Business Methods Claims Sua Sponte Held Patent-Eligible
The court sua sponte held business method patent claims patent-eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101 in Applied Innovation v. Commercial Recovery Corp., No. CV-11-00330-JPH (E.D. Wash. Aug. 14., 2013). The claims of US Patent No. 7,167,839 were directed to “[a] method for allowing selective access by a client of a collection agency to information from […]
Litigation Misconduct Gives Rise to Exceptional Patent Case
Litigation misconduct, even without a showing of objective baselessness or bad faith, was enough to justify a finding of an exceptional case, and an award of attorneys’ fees under 35 U.S.C. § 285. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. v. O2 Micro International, Ltd., No. 2012-1221 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 13, 2013). The parties in this litigation had […]
Software Licensee’s Creation of Derivative Work Results in an Injunction
By Charles Bieneman on August 10, 2013 in Copyright, Licensing, Software Copyright Infringement, Software Licenses
In case you doubted it, seemingly boilerplate provisions in software license agreements that prohibit the creation of derivative works do mean something, as exemplified in EyePartner, Inc. v. Kor Media Group LLC, No. 4:13-10072 (S.D. Fla. July 15, 2013). The court in this case granted a preliminary injunction based on such an anti-modification provision, as […]
When Are Patent Claims Standard-Essential?
By Charles Bieneman on August 7, 2013 in Litigation, Patent Damages, Patent Licenses, Standard Setting Organizations
The question of whether claims from 23 different patents were “essential” to the IEEE 802.11 standard (popularly known as Wi-Fi) was presented to the court in In re Innovatio Ip Ventures, MDL Docket No. 2303, Case No. 11 C 9308 (N.D. Ill. July 26, 2013). In evaluating these claims, the court addressed a number of […]
Two More Courts Hold Patent Claims Invalid for Lack of Patent-Eligible Subject Matter
July 31, 2013, was a big day for 35 U.S.C. § 101; the statute was used in two different cases as a basis for finding that patent claims failed to recite patent-eligible subject matter, and were thus invalid. The patent claims in Digitech Image Techs., LLC v. Fujifilm Corp., No. 8:12-cv-1679-ODW(MRW) (C.D. Cal. July 31, […]