Federal Circuit Clarifies Recovery for Lost Profits, Non-Exclusive Licensees: Parent Company Denied Recovery for Lost Profits of Subsidiary By Jeff Gritton — Edited by Joshua Gruenspecht Mars, Inc. v. Coin Acceptors, Inc. Federal Circuit, June 2, 2008, No. 2007-1409 Slip Opinion The Federal Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part the District Court of New Jersey and remanded for recalculation of damages in a patent infringement suit. The court affirmed the district court’s holding precluding Mars Inc. (“Mars”) from ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Holds that Automatic Assignment of Employee Rights May Foreclose Certain Defenses By Sarah Sorscher — Edited by David Lawson DDB Technologies, L.L.C. v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. Federal Circuit, February 13, 2008, No. 2007-1211 Slip Opinion On February 13, the Federal Circuit affirmed in part, vacated in part and remanded for further discovery a decision of the District Court for the Western District of Texas related to employee assignment of patent rights. The court affirmed the ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Upholds Damages Award Against Echostar By Andrew Ungberg — Edited by Wen Bu TiVo, Inc. v. EchoStar Commc’n Corp. Federal Circuit, January 31, 2008, No. 2006-1574 Slip Opinion The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld in part and reversed in part an Eastern District of Texas jury verdict finding that EchoStar’s DVR machines infringed hardware and software claims of TiVo’s patent. Writing for a unanimous panel, Judge Bryson found that EchoStar’s devices infringed TiVo’s software ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Holds Patent Unenforceable Following Patentee’s Failure to Disclose Material Notes By Michelle Yang — Edited by Wen Bu Monsanto Corp. v. Bayer Bioscience N.V. Federal Circuit, January 25, 2008, No. 2007-1109 Slip Opinion On January 25, the Federal Circuit affirmed the District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri’s holdings: 1) that Bayer’s patent for certain chimeric genes was unenforceable for inequitable conduct, and 2) that the district court had jurisdiction to declare three related patents unenforceable. The ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Decides to Rehear Important Design Patent Case En Banc By Andrew Ungberg – Edited by Wen Bu Egyptian Goddess, Inc., v. Swisa, Inc. Federal Circuit, November 26, 2007, No. 2006-1562 Order Update: On September 22, 2008, the en banc Federal Circuit affirmed the decision of the District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which had granted summary judgment in favor of Swisa, Inc, finding that no jury could reasonably find Swisa’s nail-buffer design infringed Egyptian Goddess’s design patent. ... Read More...