1. Tokai
Corp. v. Easton Enters., 2010-1057, 2010-1116, UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 1915, January 31, 2011,
Decided [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers / unenhanced version available from lexisONE Free Case Law]
OVERVIEW:
District court did
not err when it dismissed patent holders' action alleging that its competitors
infringed patents which described utility lighters having extended lighting
rods and automatic safety mechanisms. The patents were invalid because they
claimed subject matter that would have been obvious in light of products that
were already patented.
CORE
TERMS: lighter,
prior art, locking, obviousness, patent, summary judgment, lighting, invention,
safety device, declaration ...
2. Tyco
Healthcare Group LP v. Mut. Pharm. Co., 2010-1513, UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 1849, January 27, 2011,
Decided, January 27, 2011, Filed, THIS DECISION WAS ISSUED AS UNPUBLISHED
OR NONPRECEDENTIAL AND MAY NOT BE CITED AS PRECEDENT. PLEASE REFER TO FEDERAL
RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE RULE 32.1 GOVERNING THE CITATION TO UNPUBLISHED
OPINIONS. [enhanced version / unenhanced version]
CORE
TERMS: counterclaim,
summary judgment, affirmative defenses, invalidity, patent, entry of final
judgment, inequitable conduct, antitrust
3. Fifth
Generation Computer Corp. v. IBM, 2010-1201, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 1670, January 26, 2011,
Decided, THIS DECISION WAS ISSUED AS UNPUBLISHED OR NONPRECEDENTIAL AND
MAY NOT BE CITED AS PRECEDENT. PLEASE REFER TO FEDERAL RULES OF APPELLATE
PROCEDURE RULE 32.1 GOVERNING THE CITATION TO UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS. [enhanced version / unenhanced version]
OVERVIEW:
District court erred
by holding that earlier patents were not incorporated by reference due to a
later patent's criticism of those inventions, but its judgment of
noninfringement was affirmed. In light of the clear claim language, it was
inappropriate to look to the incorporated references to arrive at a stretched
reading of the claim limitations.
CORE
TERMS: bus,
controller, binary, host, root, connected, patent, computer system, processing,
subtree ...
4. Warsaw
Orthopedic, Inc. v. Globus Med., Inc., 2009-1525, UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 1827, January 26, 2011,
Decided, THIS DECISION WAS ISSUED AS UNPUBLISHED OR NONPRECEDENTIAL AND
MAY NOT BE CITED AS PRECEDENT. PLEASE REFER TO FEDERAL RULES OF APPELLATE
PROCEDURE RULE 32.1 GOVERNING THE CITATION TO UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS. [enhanced version / unenhanced version]
OVERVIEW:
Because the asserted
claims were not limited to the preferred embodiment described in a
specification, a district court's construction of the terms was affirmed.
However, as to anticipation, the alleged infringer's motion for JMOL was
reversed with respect to two claims.
CORE
TERMS: connecting,
anchor, rod, surgeon, brace, specification, screw, embodiment, inserter,
referencing ...
5. United
States v. Jenkins, No. 09-10109, No. 09-10110, UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 1471, September 9, 2010,
Argued and Submitted, San Francisco, California, January 25, 2011, Filed [enhanced version / unenhanced version]
OVERVIEW:
Evidence was
sufficient to support the defendants' securities fraud convictions under 15
U.S.C.S. § 78j(b) where the evidence at trial proved that defendants made false
and material statements about the viability of the corporation's products, its
transactions and business dealings, and the identity of its shareholders.
CORE
TERMS: money
laundering, statute of limitations, wire fraud, stock, securities fraud,
indictment, sentencing, final action, unlawful activity, concealment ...
6. Vanguard
Identification Sys. v. Kappos, 2010-1371, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 1452, January 24, 2011,
Decided, DECISION WITHOUT PUBLISHED OPINION [enhanced version / unenhanced version]
7. Alcohol
Monitoring Sys. v. Actsoft, Inc., 2010-1250, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 1454, January 24, 2011,
Decided, THIS DECISION WAS ISSUED AS UNPUBLISHED OR NONPRECEDENTIAL AND
MAY NOT BE CITED AS PRECEDENT. PLEASE REFER TO FEDERAL RULES OF APPELLATE
PROCEDURE RULE 32.1 GOVERNING THE CITATION TO UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS. [enhanced version / unenhanced version]
OVERVIEW:
Claims of patent for
device to monitor blood alcohol level through skin emissions were improperly
construed since transdermal alcohol content calculation approximated but did
not measure blood alcohol content and measurement results were not necessarily
percentage, but measurement of voltage could be equivalent to percentage
calculation.
CORE
TERMS: measurement,
blood, alcohol, voltage, skin, alcohol content, calculation, summary judgment,
monitoring, infringement ...
8. Arlington
Indus. v. Bridgeport Fittings, Inc., 2010-1025, UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 1118, January 20, 2011,
Decided [enhanced version / unenhanced version]
OVERVIEW:
Patent claim for a
"spring steel adaptor" for an electrical connector was improperly
construed to require a split since the claim term only meant that the adaptor
was formed from spring steel, there was no indication that a springing action
was intended, and there was no showing of clear intent to limit the claims to
split embodiments.
CORE
TERMS: adaptor,
spring metal, specification, split, connector, patent, spring steel,
electrical, circle, invention ...
9. Centillion
Data Sys., LLC v. Qwest Communs. Int'l, 2010-1110, 2010-1131, UNITED STATES
COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 1117, January
20, 2011, Decided [enhanced version / unenhanced version]
OVERVIEW:
Where the district
court erred in interpreting the scope of the term "use" of a system
for purposes of infringement under 35 U.S.C.S. § 271(a) as requiring exercise
physical or direct control over each individual element of the system, its
grant of summary judgment of non-infringement was vacated and remanded.
CORE
TERMS: customer,
user, processing, back-end, software, infringement, summary judgment, personal
computer, invention, matter of law ...
10. Hyperquest,
Inc. v. N'Site Solutions, Inc., Nos. 08-2257, 08-3979 & 08-4176, UNITED
STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 958,
April 20, 2010, Argued, January 19, 2011, Decided [enhanced version / unenhanced version]
OVERVIEW:
Companies were
entitled to judgment in their favor because the licensee was not the legal or
beneficial owner of an exclusive right under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C.S. §
501(b) and thus, the licensee did not have the kind of interest in the software
that it needed in order to be entitled to bring the suit for copyright
infringement.
CORE
TERMS: license,
software, exclusive right, copyrighted, derivative, infringement, Copyright
Act, non-exclusive, exclusivity, distribute ...
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