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October 6, 2011

One

About the only time the CAFC is on the square is when two competitors duke it out. So it was with IGT v. Bally (CAFC 2010-1364, -1365). Then again, with Judges Newman and Moore on a panel, one might expect a bit of justice. The claimed invention were slot machines with a patented bonus payout. Lord knows that sort of thing deserves 20 years' protection for genius invention. Ironic comedy in that the major event was figuring out how to construe "one" for a one-armed bandit. The conclusion: "one" can be more than one, but not if the claim reads "only one." Judges tend to be mathematically as well as logically challenged. At least they figured out that "predetermined" and "predefined" were pretty much the same thing. The payout from the courts: some claims were infringed, some not. CAFC affirmed.

Posted by Patent Hawk at October 6, 2011 10:29 PM | Claim Construction