Federal Circuit Further Circumscribes Doctrine of Equivalents
Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co., Ltd. (”SMC”)
Federal Circuit, No. 05-1492, July 5, 2007
Slip Opinion
On July 5, in the latest decision in a nearly-twenty-year saga which has cumulatively proven enormously important in defining the scope of the doctrine of equivalents, the Federal Circuit (Dyk, J.) held that an existing equivalent can be foreseeable at the time of a patentee’s amendment, even if it would have been impossible for an observer of ordinary skill in the art to foresee at the time of amendment that the equivalent would ultimately satisfy the tests for equivalence.
Commentary:
Dewey Ballantine: Federal Circuit Elucidates ‘Foreseeability’ Component of Equivalents Test
Sutherland Asbill & Brennan: Making the Unforeseeable, Foreseeable
