In an appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found claim construction error and reversed the PTAB’s finding that all instituted claims were unpatentable. Personalized Media Commc’ns, LLC v. Apple Inc., Case No. 18-1936 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 13, 2020) (Stoll, J.).
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) obviousness decision, finding the decision was infected by an erroneous claim construction that failed to consider the purpose of the claimed invention. Kaken Pharmaceutical Co., LTD v. Iancu, Case No. 18-2232 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 13 2020)(Taranto, J.).
Kaken owns a patent claiming a method for topically treating fungal infections in nails. Fungal infections of the nail plate and nail bed are notoriously difficult to treat because topical treatments cannot penetrate the thick keratin in the nail plate. The patent describes an effective topical treatment with an antifungal, KP-103, having good permeability, retention capacity and activity in the nail plate. The patent specification notes that topical treatments known in the prior art were largely ineffective at penetrating the nail plate and treating onychomycosis.
In an 8–4 decision, the en banc US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a per curiam order upholding its earlier panel decision finding a claim using the transitional phrase “consisting essentially of” to be indefinite because of inconsistences in the manner in which the patent specification explained the meaning of “better drying time” in connection with use of the claimed formulation. The Court denied plaintiff’s petition for panel rehearing and for rehearing en banc. HZNP Fin. Ltd. v. Actavis Labs. UT, Inc., Case No. 17-2149 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 25, 2020) (per curiam) (Lourie, J, joined by Newman, O’Malley and Stoll, JJ, dissenting). Judge Newman also dissented in the original panel decision. (more…)
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit imposed limits on what the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is authorized to do by statute when dealing with challenged claims in an inter partes review (IPR) that it finds to be too indefinite to apply prior art. Samsung Elecs. Am., Inc. v. Prisua Eng’g Corp., Case Nos. 19-1169, -1260 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 4, 2020) (Bryson, J).
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit expanded the Markush doctrine, determining that the claim language “comprising . . . [at least] . . . a group consisting of . . .” absent some basis or extrinsic evidence for limiting the group, such a group could capture an alleged infringement having an additional component present, as long as the additional component is “functionally similar” to the component identified in the Markush group limitation. ,Amgen Inc. v. Amneal Pharm. LLC, Case No. 18-2414 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 7, 2020) (Lourie, J).
A divided panel decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a summary judgment of noninfringement, finding no disputed issues of material fact to preclude summary judgement. Plastic Omnium Advanced v. Donghee America, Inc., Case No. 2018-2087 (Fed. Cir., Nov. 21, 2019) (Reyna, J) (Clevenger, J, dissenting).
Plastic Omnium filed suit against Donghee for patent infringement of patents generally relating to manufacturing plastic fuel tanks formed by blow molding. A portion of this process, as claimed, requires “cutting and opening an extruded parison of closed cross section.” The primary dispute on appeal is the meaning of the claim term “parison.” In its claim construction order, the district court found the patentee had acted as its own lexicographer, defining the key disputed term “parison” as “referring to a plastic tube with a closed cross section that is shaped by—and has reached the end of—a die and is split either immediately upon exiting the die or at some point thereafter.” Following claim construction, the district court granted Donghee’s motion for summary judgment of noninfringement as to the asserted claims. Plastic Omnium appeals the grant of summary judgment under both literally infringement and infringement under the doctrine of equivalents.
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