The Federal Circuit, sitting en banc and in a per curiam opinion, has held a party can be liable as a direct patent infringer under 35 U.S.C. § 271(a) even though it did not make, use, sell, or offer to sell every element of the claimed invention. Akamai Tech., Inc. v. Limelight Networks, Inc., No. […]
Archive | August, 2015
Emergency Call Analysis Patent Claims Invalid Under Alice
Patent claims directed to an “emergency call analysis system” were held patent ineligible, and a motion to dismiss for failure to claim patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101 granted, in Boar’s Head Corp. v. Directapps, Inc., No. 2:14-cv-01927-KJM-KJN (E.D. California, July 27, 2015). The court found that under the Mayo/Alice test the patent […]
Patent Claims to Use of Inertial Sensors Fail the Alice Test
The Court of Federal Claims recently held that patent claims for determining the orientation of a pilot in a fighter jet, although reciting hardware elements, were invalid as directed to a patent-ineligible abstract idea under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Thales Visionix, Inc. v. The United States, No. 14-513C (Ct. Cl. July 20, 2015). Accordingly, the […]
No Stay When Inter Partes Review Not Yet Instituted
By Charles Bieneman on August 15, 2015 in America Invents Act, Civil Procedure, Inter Partes Review, Stays
Where the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) had not yet ruled on a petition for Inter Partes Review (IPR), a U.S. District Court denied a defendant’s motion for a stay pending completion of the IPR. Seymour Levine v. The Boeing Co., No. 14-1991RSL (W.D. Wash. July 29, 2015). The court was swayed by the […]
Trade Secret Misappropriation Claim Dismissed Where Plaintiff Failed to Prove Damage
An element of a claim of trade secret misappropriation is that the theft has caused damage, a lesson reinforced by the defendant’s successful motion for summary judgment in 3PD, Inc. v. U.S. Transport Corp., Case No.: GJH-13-2438 (D. Md. July 9, 2015). Even if trade secrets were wrongly taken by the defendant, the plaintiff failed […]
Updated USPTO Patent-Eligibility Guidelines Are a Must-Read
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently updated its patentable subject matter guidance. Anyone involved in making filing decisions and/or preparing and prosecuting software or business methods patent applications would be well advised to consult the new documents. I did not provide such a recommendation concerning the USPTO’s initial “Interim” post-Alice guidance, issued in December […]
Denial of Dispositive Motions Undermined Argument for Exceptional Case
A recent case in which a court refused to find a case exceptional under 35 U.S.C. § 285, and denied a defendant’s motion for fees, demonstrates how Octane Fitness has not greatly shifted the ground in many patent cases. In Ushijima v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., No. A-12-CV-318-LY (W.D. Tex. Jul. 30, 2015), the denial […]
Internal Website Can Be a Trade Secret
Allegations that a customer database and an inter-office call center website were trade secrets survived a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss in Capital Meats, Inc. v. The Meat Shoppe, LLC, Civil No. JFM-15-212 (D. Md. July 9, 2015). The court ruled that the plaintiff had stated a plausible claim under the Maryland Uniform Trade Secrets […]