Federal Circuit Says Patent Preamble Not Limiting By Debbie Rosenbaum – Edited by Jad Mills Marrin v. Griffin, Appeal 2009-1031 (Fed. Cir., Mar. 22, 2010) Slip Opinion On March 22, 2010, the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment that U.S. Patent No. 5,154,448, which related to a beverage cup scratch-off label, was invalid because it was anticipated under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b). Judge Dyk, writing for the majority held that the use recited in the preamble, namely that ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Reaffirms Separate Written Description and Enablement Requirements for Patents By Tyler Lacey – Edited by Jad Mills Ariad Pharm., Inc. v. Eli Lilly & Co., Appeal 2008-1248 (Fed. Cir., Mar. 22, 2010) Slip Opinion The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”), in a 9-2 en banc decision, affirmed a panel decision holding Ariad’s patent claims invalid for lack of written description. In so holding, the Federal Circuit reaffirmed that the first paragraph of 35 ... Read More...

TiVo Wins Five Year Battle Over Patent Infringement with EchoStar By Katy Yang – Edited by Kassity Liu TiVo Inc. v. EchoStar Corp., No. 2009-1374 (E.D. Tex., March 4, 2010) Slip Opinion The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, which had found EchoStar in contempt of a permanent injunction order that was issued by the court in an earlier judgment in which ... Read More...

By Tyler Lacey RealNetworks Won’t Appeal Decision Declaring Its DVD Copying Software in Violation of DMCA On March 4, Wired reported that RealNetworks plans to cease litigation of a lawsuit filed by the Motion Picture Association of America (“MPAA”) alleging that its DVD copying software, RealDVD, violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”).  RealNetworks had initially planned to appeal a California district court’s decision that the software illegally circumvented the DVD encryption technology, Content Scramble System. However, after two years ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Rules for Crocs on Appeal in ITC Patent Dispute By Sharona Hakimi – Edited by Steven Primeaux Crocs, Inc. v. ITC, Appeal 2008-1596 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 24, 2010) Slip Opinion On February 24, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed and remanded a patent decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission concerning Crocs shoes. In what has become a trend in high-profile design patent cases, Judge Rader provided guidance on claim construction and the ... Read More...