Can § 101 Carry the Weight?
POWERBLOCK HOLDING, INC. v. IFIT, INC. Before Taranto, Stoll, and District Judge Scarsi. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Summary: Under step one of the...
Federal Circuit Lacked Jurisdiction Over a Patent Royalty Dispute
ACORDA THERAPEUTICS, INC. V. ALKERMES PLC Before Taranto, Hughes, and Stark. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Summary: The Federal Circuit held...
Federal Circuit Holds District Court Abused Its Discretion by Excluding an Authenticating Witness
JIAXING SUPER LIGHTING ELECTRIC APPLIANCE, CO. v. CH LIGHTING TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. Before Dyk, Chen, and Hughes. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas....
Proposed FAA Rule to Allow Drone Operations Beyond Visual Line of Sight
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on August 7, 2025, issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) related to “drones.” The notice proposes regulations to enable...
No Shenanigans: IPRs and Interference Estoppel
IGT v. ZYNGA INC. Before Prost, Reyna, and Taranto. Appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Summary: Interference estoppel does not apply when the interference was terminated due...
Sunkist Squeezes Out a Win and Kisses Kist Goodbye!
SUNKIST GROWERS, INC. v. INTRASTATE DISTRIBUTORS, INC. Before Prost, Taranto, and Stark. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Summary: The TTAB incorrectly found that similar trademarks created distinct commercial...
An Examiner’s Allowance Does Not Create an “Especially Weighty” Presumption of Written-Description Support
MONDIS TECHNOLOGY LTD., HITACHI MAXELL, LTD., NKA MAXELL HOLDINGS, LTD., MAXELL, LTD. v. LG ELECTRONICS INC., LG ELECTRONICS USA, INC. Before Taranto, Clevenger, and Hughes. Appeal from the United States...
Eyeing the Prize of the U.S. Patent System, the Trump Administration Proposes Patent Maintenance Fee Overhaul
The Trump administration is considering changing the U.S. patent maintenance fee structure from the existing three fixed flat fees to an annual, value‑based “tax” model where patent holders would pay...
A Launchpad for Startups in the Space Domain: Apollo Accelerator
In 2023, the U.S. Space Force launched the Space Domain Awareness (SDA) Tools, Application, & Processing (TAP) Lab. The SDA TAP Lab aims to accelerate the delivery of space battle...
