Federal Circuit Equates Covenants Not to Sue for Patent Infringement with Unconditional Licenses By Debbie Rosenbaum – Edited by Evan Kubota TransCore, LP v. Electronic Transaction Consultants Corp., No. 2008-1430, April 8, 2009 Opinion On April 8, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment, which held that an unconditional “covenant not to sue” has the same effect as an unconditional “license” for purposes of patent exhaustion. In 2000, ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Holds That Later-Developed Alternative Manufacturing Processes May Be “Patentably Distinct” from Their Related Products By Tyler Lacey – Edited by Evan Kubota Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. v. Doll, April 10, 2009, No. 2008-1131 Opinion On April 10th, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the decision of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, holding that manufacturing processes developed after a product is patented may be “patentably distinct” from their ... Read More...

District Court Applies Bilski to Deny Validity of Business Method Patent Claims By Evan Kubota – Edited by Caitlyn Ross Cybersource Corp. v. Retail Decisions, Inc. N.D. Cal., March 26, 2009, No. C. 04-03268 MHP Opinion On March 26, 2009, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted defendant Retail Decisions’ motion for summary judgment on the invalidity of two business method patent claims. The ruling invalidated the claims asserted in CyberSource Corp. U.S. Patent No. ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Grants U.S. Patent and Trademarks Office Power to Limit Patent Applications By Sharona Hakimi – Edited by Caitlyn Ross Tafas v. Doll Federal Circuit, March 20, 2009, No. 2008-1352 Opinion On March 20th, the Federal Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part a decision by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in a suit that challenged rules proposed by the U.S. Patent and Trademarks Office (USPTO). Tafas, the plaintiff, contested the USPTO’s ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Penalizes ICU Medical, Inc. and Counsel Paul Hastings for Frivolous Patent Infringement Suit By Jamie Wicks – Edited by Joshua Gruenspecht ICU Medical, Inc. v. Alaris Medical Systems, Inc. Federal Circuit, March 13, 2009, No. 2008-1077 Opinion On March 13th, the Federal Circuit unanimously affirmed the United States District Court for the Central District of California, which had granted summary judgment in favor of Alaris in a suit in which ICU claimed infringement of its patents for spiked ... Read More...