Before Stoll, Clevenger, and Wallach. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.
Summary: Despite cancelling a claim prior to assignment, assignor estoppel still applied to bar invalidity defenses against a related claim because the assignor warranted the validity of the cancelled claim and the cancelled claim was not directed to subject matter materially broader than the related claim.
IN RE MCDONALD
Before Newman, Stoll, and Cunningham. Appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Summary: When applying for reissue, a patent applicant may not recapture subject matter that was intentionally surrendered to overcome a § 101 rejection.
THALER V. VIDAL
Before Moore, Taranto, and Stark. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Summary: Under the Patent Act , an “inventor” must be a natural person. Therefore, an AI system cannot be an inventor.
On July 29, 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a Notice by Director Kathy Vidal that may be relevant to those seeking or holding patents on medical devices that require Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. The Notice relates to certain duties owed to the USPTO with regard to statements and documents submitted to the FDA and other government agencies. The duties include a duty to disclose certain information and a duty of reasonable inquiry.
REALTIME ADAPTIVE STREAMING LLC v. NETFLIX INC.
Before: Newman, Reyna, and Chen. Appeal from the Central District of California.
Summary: Courts may use their inherent equitable powers to award attorneys’ fees for bad faith conduct.
The 3M Company announced on July 26th that it will spin off its health care business into a separate, publicly-traded company. The health care business will focus on wound care, oral care, healthcare IT, and biopharma filtration. The current health care business lines include bandages, skin adhesives, oral aligners, air purifiers, optical lenses, and the Bair Hugger™ surgical warming system that is currently the subject of nearly 6,000 lawsuits.
AliveCor, Inc., a company focused on cardiac data and remote medicine, successfully convinced an International Trade Commission (ITC) judge that Apple, Inc. infringed multiple AliveCor patents related to electrocardiogram (ECG) technology. AliveCor asserted that the Apple Watch (Series 6 and 7) infringes multiple AliveCor ECG patents and seeks to ban the watches from importation into the U.S.
A medical device patentee has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to save his design patent, related to an introducer sheath handle, from invalidity based on application of the “on-sale” bar, which prohibits patenting an invention if it has been for sale for over one year prior to the patent filing.
CAREDX, INC. V. NATERA, INC.
Before Lourie, Bryson, and Hughes
Summary: Expert testimony that steps of challenged patent claims were unconventional failed to preclude summary judgment of ineligibility where specification admitted the steps were conventional.
LG ELECTRONICS INC. v. IMMERVISION INC.
Before Stoll, Cunningham, and Newman, Appeal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Summary: Where a reference contains an “obvious” error in a disclosure, even if not immediately apparent on the face of the disclosure, the erroneous information may not support a finding of obviousness.
