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 | Comments (0)
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 | Comments (0)
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 | Comments (0)
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 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 | Comments (0)
July 29, 2010
Plunger
Becton
tried to stick Tyco with infringing syringe patent
5,348,544.
It did. But Tyco got the district court judge to grant a new trial on
infringement, because Becton changed its infringement theory at trial. Tyco lost
the second trial. Tyco appealed. The CAFC plunged into contentious claim
construction.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 5:48 PM | Claim Construction | Comments (6)
July 19, 2010
Insecure
Paradox
Security Systems sued ADT and other home security companies for infringing
RE39,406, which claims a telephone line coupler circuit. Paradox's expert
was waylaid by defendants for not explaining how the accused products met a
means-plus-function limitation. The district court judge ruled non-infringement
as a matter of law. Appeal found the same short circuit.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 7:05 PM | Infringement | Comments (0)
June 23, 2010
Even If
"An
annuity is a contract that guarantees the payment of money to an annuitant upon
certain intervals. Annuities are typically used to provide individuals with
long-term economic protection against the risk of outliving their assets."
7,089,201, owned by Lincoln National Life Insurance Company claims
"computerized methods for administering variable annuity plans,"
particularly, paying out "even if the account value is exhausted." Nervy
competitor Transamerica filed a DJ.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:52 AM | Infringement | Comments (0)
June 16, 2010
Replication Error
Wordtech
sued a school district in California, and Integrated Networks Solutions (INSC),
along with four INSC employees, for infringing CD copier patents
6,141,298;
6,532,198; and
6,822,932. The school district settled. Only after that did INSC attempt to
allege invalidity, a motion denied by the district court. Jury trial "found that
all defendants infringed all three patents willfully. After trial, the district
court found the case "exceptional" under 35 U.S.C. § 285 and awarded treble
damages, attorneys' fees, interest, and costs to Wordtech." The only appeal
challenge was for the liability verdicts against two INSC employees.
Continue reading "Replication Error"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:11 AM | Infringement | Comments (0)
June 15, 2010
Unreleased
Database
monolith Oracle tried to put a DJ hurt on
5,894,554 as invalid and/or unenforceable. Patent owner epicRealm
counterclaimed infringement, then passed the torch to Parallel Networks to carry
on. '554 goes to "efficiently managing dynamic web page requests. Specifically,
the claimed invention seeks to lighten a web server's processing load by
allowing it to off-load dynamic web page requests to one or more page servers."
Posted by Patent Hawk at 9:12 PM | Infringement | Comments (0)
June 4, 2010
Animated
Beginning
its enforcement campaign with the beginning of the alphabet, Silicon Graphics
sued ATI and AMD, ultimately for infringing
6,650,327, which claims pipelined floating point graphics calculations. Two
other patents had been asserted, but summary judgment in favor of defendants
wiped the litigation of those. Summary judgment of non-infringement, as well as
a district court finding that a Microsoft license covered part of the action,
wiped '327's assertion. But the counterclaim case proceeded to trial, where the
patent was found not invalid. Then, naturally, appeal from both sides. Besides
claim construction and infringement, a look herein at exhausting defenses and
counterclaims.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:06 PM | Claim Construction | Comments (9)
April 29, 2010
Dun In
Judson A. Bradford had some ideas for collapsible shipping containers. So he
patented.
5,725,119 came first. Then
6,230,916, a divisional of '119.
6,540,096 was a CIP of '916. Enforcement went nowhere: noninfringement. But
the CAFC revived Bradford's prospects owing to a too-narrow claim construction.
Of particular interest in this case is that Bradford damned himself in the '096
CIP having benefit of the earlier '119 parent prior date.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 3:09 PM | Claim Construction | Comments (1)
April 12, 2010
Located
Global
Locate took SiRF and others to the ITC to stop the defendants from importing
products infringing six of its GPS patents, which claim methods for improving
signal reception. Global Locate prevailed. The defendants appealed. At issue
were standing, infringement, and whether GPS-based methods were patentable
subject matter under the Bilski standard.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:10 PM | Standing | Comments (0)
April 10, 2010
Outbid
Close-call patent litigation cases
are not unusual, but many are exercises in
denial. In this episode, Bid for Position bid for doggedness over
7,225,151, which claims a method for conducting a continuous auction. Having lost on non-infringement
by a clear-cut claim construction, appeal makes Bid's grasping lawyers look
doggedly witless. The not-so-thin line between advocacy and asininity is
traversed again.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 6:02 PM | Claim Construction | Comments (0)
March 10, 2010
i4i Review Redux
Microsoft
has prevailed upon the CAFC to rehear, en banc, only the willfulness portion of
its affirmation of the district court ruling in i4i v. Microsoft. In
other words, the CAFC cut Microsoft a break, probably because the CAFC wants
another bite at cleaning up the willfulness standard. A revised CAFC ruling was
issued today that takes out the sentence: "Microsoft does not challenge the jury
instructions on willfulness or the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the
jury's willfulness finding," and adds a section on willfulness to its revised
ruling.
Continue reading "i4i Review Redux"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 5:54 PM | Infringement | Comments (1)
February 27, 2010
Static
Trading
Technologies sued eSpeed and Ecco for infringing
6,772,132 &
6,766,304, which go to displaying "static price levels" on a computerized
board for commodity trading. One service product infringed, but others literally did not, and applying the
doctrine of equivalents was proscribed. Defenses to
indefiniteness and inequitable conduct went nowhere, as did on-sale bar (§
102(b)) based on a provisional priority date. Affirmation on appeal toted up
dynamic case law quotes, not on sale, but ones that litigators must buy.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 4:59 PM | Claim Construction | Comments (3)
February 7, 2010
Deep Fryer
SEB
sued Montgomery Ward and others for infringing
4,995,312 by selling a cheap deep fryer manufactured by Pentalpha. Speedy
justice meant that getting to trial took a mere seven years, whereupon a jury
found willful infringement, awarding $4.65 million in damages, which the
district court judge hence cut by $2 million. The district court had awarded
enhanced damages and attorneys' fees to SEB, but then snatched them back in
light of the 2007 CAFC
Seagate ruling that willfully gutted willfulness. Herein, a tale of
disingenuity, and an appeal decision greasing understanding of inducing
infringement.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:29 PM | Infringement | Comments (1)
January 15, 2010
Going Up
5,689,094
claims personal recognition that tells an elevator where to go. Patent owner
Schindler Elevator tried to get a lift over Otis Elevator, but Otis got a
summary judgment of noninfringement by construction of claim, which was a shame,
because, on appeal, the district court took the blame. The CAFC told the
district court where to go, while leaving the final destination indefinite.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:32 PM | Claim Construction | Comments (0)
January 9, 2010
Unfried Chicken
Restaurant
Technologies (RTI) sued Jersey Shore Chicken for infringing
5,249,511, which claims a system for supplying and disposing of cooking oil
in restaurant fryers. If RTI had a good prosecutor, the patent wouldn't have
read like a product manual, with too few embodiments, especially for
means-plus-function claims. Herein, RTI gets fried pursuing denial to a bitter
end.
Continue reading "Unfried Chicken"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:12 PM | Infringement | Comments (0)
December 22, 2009
Unpreserved
i4i sued Microsoft for a pissant feature in Word: editing custom XML.
But to i4i's business, the feature was puissant. A seven-day trial found
Microsoft willfully infringing a valid patent, with a jury award of $200
million. "Although statutorily authorized to triple the jury's damages award
because of Microsoft's willful infringement, the district court awarded only $40
million in additional damages. It also granted i4i's motion for a permanent
injunction." The inevitable appeal, widely expected to go more Microsoft's way
than not, did not. Procedural fumbling by supposedly the best lawyers money can
buy sold Microsoft short. Herein, CAFC case law heavy on burden and sufficiency,
in a case practically covering the gauntlet of patent enforcement.
Continue reading "Unpreserved"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 8:57 PM | Case Law | Comments (1)
December 16, 2009
Expert?
Experts
are the litigation equivalent of hired guns. They are only as good as the
guidance given by the attorneys providing their payday on what bullets to shoot
where. A case in point is Intellectual Science and Technology v. Sony.
5,748,575, one of five patents left standing on appeal, claims concurrent
reading of computer CDs. The district court pitched the case on summary judgment
for non-infringement after the plaintiff's expert failed to convince, as his declaration
was "merely conclusory." The appeals court gave a lesson in how an expert ought to spurt.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:36 AM | Infringement | Comments (1)
December 13, 2009
So Unlike Concrete
In
an extremely messy patent case involving claim construction (and correction),
noninfringement, invalidity, laches, indefiniteness, trade secrets, and topped
with several business torts, Ultimax Cement had its quick-set concrete patents
crumble by a sledgehammer summary judgment at district court, and so Ultimax
sought repair at the CAFC. The foundation of the patent problem: lack of careful
proofreading by the prosecutor.
Continue reading "So Unlike Concrete"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:04 AM | Claim Construction | Comments (3)
December 8, 2009
Actually Factual
Source
Search Technologies (SST) sued LendingTree over
5,758,328, which claims an online vending system employing request for quote
(RFQ) posting to select potential vendors, to which the vendors respond. "The
'328 patent claims to solve the "too much" or "too little" information problem
commonly associated with running searches over a network or system." The
asserted claims were found infringed but obvious, thus invalid, in summary
judgment. The appeal, narrowed to a single claim (14), let the CAFC panel
reiterate its caution to district courts: be not hasty in granting summary
judgment if the scent of "genuine issues of material fact" is in the air.
Continue reading "Actually Factual"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 5:26 PM | Infringement | Comments (1)
September 20, 2006
On the Rise
Ms.
Yoon Ja Kim was in the know about the dough, and so we go blow to blow to show
ConAgra, accused, but not rising like baking bread to infringement.
Continue reading "On the Rise"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:16 PM | Claim Construction | Comments (0)
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