Fresh From the Bench: Latest Federal Circuit Court Cases
CASE OF THE WEEK
Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Facebook Inc., Appeal Nos. 2019-1688, -1689 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 9, 2021)
In this week’s Case of the Week, Uniloc appealed from two consolidated IPR decisions finding multiple claims unpatentable as obvious. The Federal Circuit affirmed, addressing several discrete issues. It first addressed the foremost issue of “whether 35 U.S.C § 314(d)’s ‘No Appeal’ provision bars this court’s review of the Board’s conclusion that under § 315(e)(1) a petitioner is not estopped from maintaining the IPR proceeding before it.” Next, the Court addressed multiple challenges to the Board’s estoppel conclusions. Finally, the Court addressed challenges to the Board’s findings of unpatentability on all claims and the Board’s claim construction of the term “attaches to.”
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By Annie White
ALSO THIS WEEK
Mylan Laboratories, Ltd. v. Janssen Pharmaceutica, N.V., Appeal No. 2021-1071 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 12, 2021)
On a petition for writ of mandamus, the Federal Circuit refused to compel the PTAB to initiate inter partes review proceedings concerning one of Janssen’s patents. Mylan petitioned for IPR, and the PTAB declined to review the patent in light of two pending litigations that were likely to reach final judgment prior to any ultimate PTAB decision. Mylan both appealed the denial and also filed a mandamus petition. The Federal Circuit held it lacked jurisdiction to review the denial of a PTAB decision not to institute inter partes review pursuant to Section 314(d). Concerning the mandamus petition, the Court found that it has mandamus jurisdiction pursuant to the All Writs Act. However, it declined to issue mandamus relief, deferring to the Director’s discretion to deny IPR petitions, and finding that Mylan had not met the high bar required for mandamus relief.
A copy of the opinion can be found here.
By Nika Aldrich
DePuy Synthes Products, Inc. v. Veterinary Orthopedic Implants, Inc., Appeal No. 2020-1514 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 12, 2021)
The Federal Circuit affirmed the District Court’s order to unseal Depuy’s amended complaint. The Court briefly touched on its jurisdiction holding that the collateral order doctrine confers jurisdiction to the Federal Circuit in this matter. On the merits, Veterinary Orthopedic Implants (“VOI”) objected to the district court’s order arguing that the amended complaint must remain sealed because it disclosed VOI’s trade secrets that were subject to the protective order between the parties. At issue was whether VOI had offered “a strong justification to overcome the presumption of public access.” As an initial matter, the Court held that the protective order could not supersede the right of public access without further justification. Specifically, “VOI must establish the existence of harm flowing from the disclosure of such information,” such as from the disclosure of trade secrets. Applying Florida law, the Court held that VOI had failed to establish that the information at issue, the identity and other information about VOI’s manufacturer, were trade secret. Finding no other basis to constrain the public’s right of access to the amended complaint, the Court affirmed.
A copy of the opinion can be found here.
By Bazsi Takacs
In Re: Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, Appeal No. 2020-1012 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 11, 2021)
In an appeal brought by Stanford University from a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision affirming an Examiner's rejection of the claims as covering patent ineligible subject matter, the Court concluded that claim 1 is directed to a patent ineligible mathematical algorithm. Additional limitations amounted to only “apply it” on a computer. Regarding Stanford’s argument that claim 1 enables a scientist to ascertain more haplotype information than was previously possible, the Court pointed out that a novel mathematical algorithm is still a mathematical algorithm. As to Stanford’s argument that the Board failed to assess the elements of claim 1 as an ordered combination, the Court pointed out that Stanford failed to explain how that combination of elements moves the claimed subject matter from the abstract into the practical. For these reasons, the Court affirmed the Board’s conclusion that the claims are drawn to patent ineligible subject matter.
A copy of the opinion can be found here.
Edgewell Personal Care Brands, LLC v. Munchkin, Inc., Appeal No. 2020-1203 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 9, 2021)
In this case, the Federal Circuit vacated-in-part and reversed-in-part a summary judgment decision finding non-infringement of two patents covering refill cassettes for appellant Edgewell’s Diaper Genie diaper pail system. In the process, the Court re-affirmed that apparatus claims are generally to be construed according to what the apparatus is, not what the apparatus does, and articulated limitations on the vitiation doctrine in analyzing infringement under the doctrine of equivalents.
Edgewell’s U.S. Patent No. 8,899,420 covered refill cassettes with “a clearance in a bottom portion of the central opening,” which provided a chamfered edge to fit with a ring inside the pail, ensuring the cassettes could not be installed upside-down. On summary judgment, the district court construed the “clearance” limitation to require space between the pail ring and the cassette after the cassette was properly installed, and found non-infringement of the ’420 patent because there was no space between Munchkin’s cassette and the pail after the cassette was installed. The Federal Circuit found this construction to be erroneous, holding that “it is usually improper to construe non-functional claim terms in apparatus claims in a way that makes infringement or validity turn on the way an apparatus is later put to use,” which is inconsistent with the patent system’s notice function, and also noted that the specification included embodiments in which the chamfered edge engaged directly with the pail. Because it was based on an erroneous construction, the Court vacated this aspect of the district court’s decision and remanded for further proceedings.
Edgewell’s U.S. Patent No. 6,974,029 covered refill cassettes with an annular cover disposed over the cassette housing, the cover having several portions including a “tear-off section” that could be removed to permit access to the bag tubing within. Munchkin’s accused refill cassettes had a cover with a separate shrink wrap or blister cap element to access the tubing, and after the district court construed the cover limitation to require the “tear-off section” to be part of the same structure as the rest of the cover, Edgewell limited its allegations on the ’029 patent to infringement under the doctrine of equivalents. The district court found that this application of the doctrine of equivalents would effectively vitiate the “tear-off section” limitation, and granted summary judgment of non-infringement to Munchkin. The Federal Circuit disagreed, cautioning that the vitiation inquiry should not be short-cut by framing it as a binary choice between whether a limitation is present or not, as vitiation is instead a legal determination of a lack of equivalence based on the evidence and theory presented. Pointing to expert testimony that Munchkin’s shrink wrap or blister cap elements performed the same function, in the same way, to achieve the same result as the claimed tear-off section, the Federal Circuit found that disputed issues of material fact precluded summary judgment on the ’029 patent, and reversed this aspect of the district court’s decision.
A copy of the opinion can be found here.
Edited by: Scott D. Eads and Nika Aldrich, Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt
Contributors: Annie White, Bazsi Takacs, Michael A. Cofield and Jason Wrubleski