Cecilia Choy, Ph.D.
Subscribe to Cecilia Choy, Ph.D.'s PostsCecilia Choy, Ph.D., focuses her practice on intellectual property matters and is a certified patent agent. Read Cecilia Choy's full bio.
Secondary Meaning: Consumers Connect Product with Single Anonymous Source
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Sep 8, 2022
Posted In Trademarks
Reversing and remanding a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of an accused trade dress infringer, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit explained that trade dress does not need to be linked to a particular company. If consumers link the trade dress to any single (even anonymous) source or company,...
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Claim Cancelation Limits but Doesn’t Prohibit Assignor Estoppel Defense
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Aug 25, 2022
Posted In Patents
On remand from the Supreme Court, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reconsidered the boundaries of the doctrine of assignor estoppel. The Federal Circuit found that the patent assignor was estopped from challenging the validity of an asserted patent because the asserted claim was not materially broader than the specific claims assigned...
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Publisher’s Fair Use Defense Dries Up
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Aug 18, 2022
Posted In Copyrights
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a district court’s summary judgment, rejecting an accused publisher’s argument that their use of copyrighted photos embedded in articles was fair use under the Copyright Act. McGucken v. Pub Ocean Ltd., Case No. 21-55854 (9th Cir. Aug. 3, 2022) (Ikuta, Nguyen, Owens, JJ.) Elliot McGucken...
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Court to Counsel: Be Frivolous at Your Own Risk
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Jul 28, 2022
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit may “award just damages and single or double costs to the appellee” under the Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 38 if an appeal is frivolous as filed or as argued. In a non-precedential decision, the Court granted-in-part and denied-in-part a party’s motion for sanctions and request...
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Can’t Hide Behind Minor Clerical Error to Escape Willful Infringement Verdict
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Jun 9, 2022
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court decision correcting a clerical error in a claim. Pavo Solutions LLC v. Kingston Technology Company, Inc., Case Nos. 21-1834 (Fed. Cir. June 3, 2022) (Lourie, Prost, Chen, JJ.) The Pavo patent is generally directed to a “flash memory apparatus having a single...
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Co-Authorship ≠ Co-Inventorship but Can Be Supportive of Inventive Contribution
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Jun 9, 2022
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded a Patent Trial & Appeal Board (Board) decision because it failed to resolve fundamental testimonial conflict relating to inventive contribution and complete the Duncan Parking analysis. Google LLC v. IPA Technologies Inc., Case Nos. 21-1179; -1180; -1185 (Fed. Cir. May 19, 2022) (Dyk,...
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Oh Snap: Sufficient Reasoning Must Support Declaratory Judgment Dismissal
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Jun 2, 2022
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the dismissal of a declaratory judgment action because the district court failed to sufficiently support its decision. Mitek Systems, Inc. v. United Services Automobile Association, Case No. 21-1989 (Fed. Cir. May 20, 2022) (Dyk, Taranto, Cunningham, JJ.) United Services Automobile Association (USAA) owns...
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Notice Letters, Related Communications May Establish Specific Personal Jurisdiction
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Apr 28, 2022
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected a bright-line rule that patent infringement notice letters and related communications can never form the basis for specific personal jurisdiction. Apple Inc. v. Zipit Wireless, Inc., Case No. 21-1760 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 18, 2022) (Hughes, Mayer, Stoll, JJ.) Zipit owns two patents directed to wireless...
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Judge Albright Issues Another Round of Updated Patent Rules for WDTX
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Mar 17, 2022
Posted In Patents
As previously reported, Judge Albright issued standing orders for his patent cases. On March 7, 2022, Judge Albright issued another set of rules applicable to his large portfolio of patent cases in the Western District of Texas, with some modifications to his prior rules. This round of new orders includes the following: In the “Amended...
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It’s Highlighted and Verified: Reversal of PTAB Non-Obviousness Decision
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Jun 3, 2021
Posted In Patents
In a relatively unusual outcome, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a Patent Trial & Appeal Board (Board) decision finding non-obviousness in an inter partes review (IPR). Becton, Dickinson, and Co. v. Baxter Corp. Englewood, Case No. 20-1937 (Fed. Cir. May 28, 2021) (Dyk, J.) Becton petitioned the Board for IPR...
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