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August 30, 2010
Misuse
Compact discs (CDs) became commercially viable by creating an international
standard, insipidly called the "Orange Book." Philips was instrumental in
developing the Orange Book standard, as well as holding patents covering a
portion of the standard. CD maker Princo licensed Philips' CD patent portfolio,
then peeved itself, that it was forced to license irrelevant patents as part of
the deal. So Princo stopped paying licensing fees, and got hauled before the ITC
for its failure to pay the rent. The ITC found patent misuse, which the
CAFC reversed
and remanded. The ITC took the hint, and turned a deaf ear to Princo's
patent misuse defense. Princo appealed. A
CAFC
divided panel then ruled in confusion, again remanding. All
involved filed petitions for an en banc rehearing. So here we are.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 5:20 PM | Antitrust
August 28, 2010
Shocking
Pass
& Seymour (P&S) has patents claiming ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs):
5,594,398;
7,164,564;
7,212,386; and
7,283,340. GFCIs halt a ground fault: preventing shocking a consumer laying
hands upon a defective household appliance plugged into the wall. "GFCIs operate
by detecting a difference in electrical current flowing into and out of the
connected appliance." Pass & Seymour sought to shock alleged importing
infringers by plugging them into the ITC. Some claims sizzled to a importation
ban, while others fizzled out. All finding fault, all appealed.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:00 AM | ITC | Comments (3)
August 25, 2010
On A String
From
reading his newsletter, one gathers the decided impression that Greg Aharonian
has the emotional stature of an infant. [I know I'll get comments from readers
who will swear their infants are more mature than Greg. Point taken.] In his
ranting newsletter, where screaming ALL CAPS and !!!!!!!! are the norm,
Aharonian boiled over newly minted patent
7,779,753, which claims a tea ball on a serving string. Congratulations to
Ms. Winnie Yu for securing intellectual property protection for her creative
endeavor. Perhaps Ms. Yu would be so gracious as to invite Mr. Aharonian over
for tea. Or, upon thoughtful consideration, perhaps not.
Continue reading "On A String"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 5:17 PM | Prosecution | Comments (62)
August 22, 2010
Crushed
A
"bundle breaker" is a machine that separates stacked sheets of corrugated
cardboard.
6,655,566 claimed an improvement that allowed a bundle breaker to
simultaneously separate stacks of different heights. George M. Martin is this
country's king of cardboard stacking. Martin has been stacking cardboard since
1960, and has about 90% of the cardboard stacker machine market. Martin has sold
bundle breakers, which incorporate '566's claimed technology, since 2002. Martin
sued chief competitor Alliance Machine Systems International for infringement. A
hung jury resulted in the judge breaking Martin's
potential bundle by ruling the asserted claims obvious. Martin stacked his hopes
on the CAFC.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:15 PM | Prior Art | Comments (1)
August 20, 2010
Deep Rig
Transocean
Offshore Deepwater Drilling innovates so humans can drive around on the cheap
until they pollute themselves out of existence. And, as anything that lives in the Gulf of Mexico would tell you (if it could talk),
pollution begins at the wellhead. Transocean tried drilling rival Maersk for infringing
6,047,781,
6,068,069, and
6,085,851, in South Texas, where
they love oil like cattle love grazing. But apparently not those patents, because the district court held
the asserted claims invalid, not infringed, and Maersk not acting willfully.
Transocean had to pitch its bit to the CAFC.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 2:35 PM | Prior Art
August 14, 2010
Plugged
Dr.
Gregory W. Baran invented a biopsy sampling needle with spring-loaded action to
pull a plug from a corpse. This innovation netted the doctor
5,025,797 and CIP
5,400,798. Dr. Baran decided to plug Medical Device Technologies, AMT
Svergie AB and Gedon AB for infringement. Claim construction of "detachable" and
"releasably" forced Dr. Baran to stipulate noninfringement for '798 asserted
claims. '797 went down to noninfringement in summary judgment. The only thing
left of Dr. Baran's case after appeal was an autopsy of lousy
lawyering by the plaintiff.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 4:10 PM | Claim Construction
August 13, 2010
Inherent
King
Pharmaceuticals sued Eon Labs for infringing
6,407,128 &
6,683,102 after Eon filed an ANDA to make a generic version of the muscle
relaxant claimed, metaxalone,
which was first patented in 1962 (3,062,827).
Eon got summary judgment of invalidity via six prior art references, three of
which the court relied upon. The district court found claims inherently
anticipated. "To inherently anticipate, the prior art need only give the
same results as the patent, not better." One claim was found inherently obvious.
Other claims, in both '128 and '102, were found wanting under §101 for lack of
transformation: the claims' "informing" limitation was ethereal. Whereupon
appeal, with its own special informing about "informing" being unpatentable. "It
is not invention to perceive that the product which others had discovered had
qualities they failed to detect."
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:46 AM | Prior Art
August 11, 2010
Tracking & Waiving
Enovsys
sued Sprint Nextel for infringing
5,918,159 and
6,560,461, which claim tracking mobile phones. Undisputed claim construction
led to disputed infringement. "After a nine-day trial, the jury found Sprint
Nextel infringed both patents and awarded approximately $2.78 million in
damages." Sprint Nextel appealed.
Continue reading "Tracking & Waiving"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 9:30 PM | Infringement
August 9, 2010
Not A Golden Hour
Golden
Hour Data Systems sued emsCharts and Softtech for infringing
6,117,073. '073 claims integration of medical dispatch, clinical services,
and billing. Trial went Golden Hour's way, but the district court afterward held
JMOL no joint infringement of claims, and found '073 unenforceable due to
inequitable conduct. Golden Hour appealed. Herein, incredible case law
developments: the inequitable conduct mulligan; and joint infringement only by
proven puppeteering. And another case where "the single most reasonable
inference" is hamstrung.
Continue reading "Not A Golden Hour"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 9:14 PM | Infringement | Comments (1)
August 7, 2010
Hang Up
Ring Plus asserted
7,006,608 against Cingular. '608 generally claims generating and delivering
messages while the phone is ringing. This includes replacing or overlaying the ringback sound. Claim construction "determined that the steps of the asserted
claims must be performed in a specific order." That led to noninfringement. But
the thing that really rung Ring Plus's bell was finding inequitable conduct. The
squeeze on the sleaze didn't hold up on appeal, but only because the prosecutor
got the benefit of a doubt that shouldn't have been there.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:08 PM | Inequitable Conduct
August 5, 2010
Equivalent Spit
Chronic
excessive throat mucus is a wage of sin: bad diet, pudgy lifestyle. Drug
companies make their wages off such sin. "Guaifenesin is an expectorant used to
thin, loosen, and help expel mucus that causes congestion. It was first approved
by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1952." But it's still patented in
various forms.
6,372,252 claims sustained release, as if that were gee-whiz chemistry.
Adams sued Perrigo after Perrigo filed an ANDA for an extended mucus reducer.
Herein, the significance of equivalence.
Continue reading "Equivalent Spit"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:06 PM | Claim Construction
August 4, 2010
Pig Out
Merial got a line on a virus infecting swine, and patented it:
6,368,601. Intervet developed a vaccine for treating the virus. Then
Intervet filed a declaratory judgment action against Merial. The district court
ruled noninfringement in summary judgment based on claim construction of six
disputed terms. Merial squealed and appealed. Dissent by Judge DYK raised the specter of a
rehearing, as to whether an isolated DNA sequence is patentable subject matter (§101).
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:03 PM | Claim Construction | Comments (6)
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