Posts Tagged: "patents"

CAFC Shoots Down Due Process Challenges to PTAB Structure

In an appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) brought by Mobility Workx against Unified Patents, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today ruled that the structure of the PTAB does not violate due process rights under the U.S. Constitution. While the PTAB’s ruling was ultimately remanded to the USPTO Director for review under Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew, the court said there is no evidence that PTAB administrative patent judges (APJs) have a financial interest in instituting inter partes review (IPR) proceedings. Judge Newman dissented from the majority’s “endorsement of the status quo.”

CareDx v. Natera: The Latest in Patent Eligibility of Medical Diagnostics

The latest ruling involving patent eligibility of medical diagnostics comes from Chief Judge Connolly of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware in a consolidated case brought by CareDx, Inc. and the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University against Natera, Inc. (Civil Action No. 19-0567-CFC-CJB) and Eurofins Viracor, Inc. (Civil Action No. 19-1804-CFC-CJB). After initially denying the Defendants’ motions for summary judgment of invalidity of the asserted patents under 35 U.S.C. §101 in December 2020, the Court then later denied certification motions for interlocutory appeal and instead ruled sua sponte to reconsider its own denial of summary judgment. Following an evidentiary hearing during which expert testimony was heard, the Court reversed its previous ruling to find all claims of the asserted patents invalid as a matter of law under §101.

Where We Are on AI Inventorship and Where We Should be Heading

The past few years saw a meteoric rise of artificial intelligence (AI) products, services, and applications. AI has evolved from merely a buzzword or a cool new idea to a substantively used tool in a variety of applications, including autonomous driving, natural language processing, drug development, finance and cybersecurity among others. Companies, universities, and inventors world-wide noted the importance of AI and began seeking to patent various aspects of AI technology. Until 2018, these patent applications identified a human inventor who invented a particular aspect of the AI technology. Then, Dr. Stephen Thaler filed a patent application for a food container and a light emitting device that identified an AI, known as DABUS, as an inventor.

CAFC Says Forum Selection Clause in NDA Does Not Apply to Inter Partes Review

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) today held in a precedential decision authored by Judge Chen that a non-disclosure agreement’s (NDA’s) forum selection clause barring lawsuits to be brought outside of the New York court system did not apply to inter partes review (IPR) proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Judge Newman dissented. Kannuu Pty Ltd. appealed to the CAFC asking that the court compel Samsung Electronics to seek dismissal of its instituted IPR proceedings at the PTAB seeking to invalidate Kannuu’s patents. Kannuu’s appeal was based on the terms of an NDA entered into between the companies during business negotiations in 2012.

Patent Filings Roundup: Uniloc (Fortress) Waves White Flag; IP Edge Files Dozens of Complaints to Start Third Quarter; Joao NPE Sues Texas Border Health Clinic, Withdraws

The third quarter came in like a wrecking ball, with district court patent filings spiking to 121 (roughly double average, driven entirely by a huge 48-complaint dump by IP Edge subsidiaries); Patent Trial and appeal Board (PTAB) filings were steady at 28, all  inter partes reviews (IPRs). A pattern seems to be emerging from IP Edge of a spike in settlements and terminations at the end of a fiscal quarter, followed by another round of filings when the next quarter starts. IP Edge is on pace to break the records it previously held for most complaints by a set of related entities in a calendar year. The Board denied another case under their Section 314(d) Fintiv discretion in light of an International Trade Commission (ITC) case, noting that, as “the ITC is scheduled to complete its investigation approximately seven-and-a-half months before the due date for the final written decision, this factor weighs in favor of exercising our discretion to deny institution.”