Judge Gilstrap of the Eastern District of Texas granted a new trial on damages after Core Wireless (“Core”) was awarded a $3.5 million judgment against LG Electronics (“LG”) for infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 8,434,020 and 8,713,476. Core Wireless Licensing v. LG Electronics, No. 2:14-cv-911-JRG (E.D. Tex. Aug. 23, 2016). In granting LG’s motion under […]
Author Archive | Peter Keros
Federal Circuit Upholds Claim Construction Limiting Claim Scope to Disclosed Embodiments
The Federal Circuit recently limited construction of patent claims to a scope supported by intrinsic evidence of embodiments disclosed in a patent specification. Ruckus Wireless, Inc. v. Innovative Wireless Solutions, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 9786 (Fed. Cir. May 31, 2016). In a 2-1 decision, the panel upheld the district court’s construction of the asserted claims, […]
DMCA Safe Harbor Covers Content from Independent Contractors
The Tenth Circuit recently held that a website provider could not be held liable for copyright infringement for the unauthorized use of copyrighted photographs in content created by its contractors. BWP Media, USA v. Clarity Digital Group, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 7406 (10th Cir. Apr. 25, 2016). Defendant AXS owns and operates Examiner.com, a “dynamic […]
Cert. Denied in Google Books Copyright Case: Big Win for Fair Use Doctrine
The U.S. Supreme Court recently denied review of the Second Circuit decision in The Authors Guild et al. v. Google Inc., 804 F.3d 202 (2d Cir. 2015), finalizing a decision allowing Google to continue its mass digitization projects as fair use. This decision is a major victory for fair use - and for Google’s preservation […]
Federal Circuit Recognizes Privilege For Patent Agents
The Federal Circuit recently held that there is an independent patent agent privilege, explaining that because prosecuting a patent application before the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) constitutes the practice of law, communications with non-attorney patent agents are privileged. In re: Queen’s University at Kingston, No. 2015-145, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 4259 (Fed. Cir. […]
Federal Circuit Reverses PTAB Claim Construction as Unreasonably Broad
The Federal Circuit recently clarified that the “broadest reasonable interpretation” of claims construed in an inter partes review (“IPR”) must still be “reasonable.” In PPC Broadband, Inc. v. Corning Optical Communications RF, LLC, No. 2015-1564 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 22, 2016), the court vacated and remanded a decision from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) […]
Federal Circuit Provides a Lesson on How Not to Rebut an Obviousness Rejection
Has the Federal Circuit made it more difficult to rebut obviousness rejections by demonstrating that the cited references teach away from the claimed invention? One way to show that references teach away from a claimed invention is to show that a combination of references alleged by the patent examiner would render the prior art inoperable […]
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 […]
Divided Infringement Results in Judgment on Pleadings on Induced Infringement
By Peter Keros on May 17, 2015 in Civil Procedure, Divided and Joint Infringement, Indirect Patent Infringement, Notice Pleading Patent Infringement
Finding that a complaint failed to sufficiently allege that the defendant exercised direction or control over all asserted steps of a method patent claim, a court has dismissed a complaint alleging induced infringement under FRCP 12(c). Robert Mankes v. Vivid Seats, Limited, No. 5:13-CV-717-FL, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24327 (E.D.N.C. Feb 26, 2015). Based on […]
Action Brought Under DMCA and CFAA Dismissed (Part II)
In Part I of this post, we discussed copyright infringement and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) claims brought in LivePerson, Inc. v. 24/7 Customer Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3688, No. 1:2014cv01559 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 13, 2015). Now we turn to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) claim brought in the case, and lessons from […]