1. Mayo Collaborative Servs. v.
Prometheus Labs., Inc., No. 10-1150, SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, 132 S.
Ct. 1289; 2012 U.S. LEXIS 2316, December 7, 2011, Argued, March 20, 2012,
Decided, The LEXIS pagination of this
document is subject to change pending release of the final published version. [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers]
OVERVIEW: Patents
describing use of thiopurine drugs to treat autoimmune diseases contained
unpatentable subject matter since correlation between blood metabolite levels
and drugs were known laws of nature, and steps of administering drugs, applying
natural laws in treatment, and measuring metabolite levels lacked inventive
concept in applying natural laws.
CORE TERMS: patent,
laws of nature, metabolite, patentable, doctor's, thiopurine, formula, natural
laws, correlations, patient ...
2. Promega Corp. v. Life Techs.
Corp., 2011-1263, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2012
U.S. App. LEXIS 6309, March 28, 2012, Decided [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers]
OVERVIEW: Pursuant
to 9 U.S.C.S. § 2, the district court properly compelled arbitration of a
royalty dispute because the parties had a valid arbitration agreement that
mandated arbitration of disputes pertaining to royalties. The agreement was
written broadly and did not limit the disputes to which it applied.
CORE TERMS: promega,
technology, arbitration, discovery, patent--, arbitrate, genetic, arbitration
provisions, compel arbitration, licensed ...
3. 3M Co. v. Avery Dennison
Corp., 2011-1339, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2012
U.S. App. LEXIS 6172, March 26, 2012, Decided [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers]
OVERVIEW: Manufacturer's
allegations were sufficient to provide jurisdiction for declaratory judgment
that manufacturer did not infringe owner's patents for retroreflective
sheeting, since owner effectively charged infringement by stating that
manufacturer's products may infringe patents, offering license, and refusing to
grant covenant not to sue.
CORE TERMS: patent,
declaratory judgment action, patentee's, infringement, declaratory judgment,
charts, sheeting, patent rights, retroreflective, deadline ...
4. Ergo Licensing, LLC v.
CareFusion 303, Inc., 2011-1229, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL
CIRCUIT, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 6171, March 26, 2012, Decided [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers]
OVERVIEW: With
respect to a patent describing a medical infusion system, the district court
correctly determined that the "control means" terms,
means-plus-function language governed by 35 U.S.C.S. § 112, para. 6, were
indefinite because they failed to disclose corresponding structure.
CORE TERMS: specification,
fluid, control device, control means, patent, metering, adjusting, invention,
corresponding, disclosure ...
5. Marine Polymer Techs., Inc. v.
HemCon, Inc., 2010-1548, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL
CIRCUIT, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 5567, March 15, 2012, Decided, As Amended March 17, 2012. [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers]
OVERVIEW: Plain
directive of 35 U.S.C.S. § 307(b) did not permit alleged infringer to invoke
intervening rights against claims that the PTO confirmed on reexamination to be
patentable as originally issued. The statute provided for intervening rights
following reexamination only as to "amended or new" claims. The
asserted claims of the patent were neither.
CORE TERMS: intervening
rights, reexamination, specification, reactivity, patent, biocompatible,
polymer, biocompatibility, invention, biological ...
6. Aspex Eyewear, Inc. v. Marchon
Eyewear, Inc., 2011-1147, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL
CIRCUIT, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 5371, March 14, 2012, Decided [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers]
OVERVIEW: District
court erred when it found that a settlement agreement a patent owner entered
with a competitor in an earlier action barred claims the owner filed against
the competitor in a later action which alleged that new eyewear the competitor
sold infringed U.S. Patent No. RE37,545. The doctrine of res judicata did not
bar the owner's claims.
CORE TERMS: frame,
auxiliary, magnetic, res judicata, infringement, arm, spectacle, reexamination,
patent, eyeglass ...
7. Zoltek Corp. v. United States,
2009-5135, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2012 U.S.
App. LEXIS 5361, March 14, 2012, Decided [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers]
OVERVIEW: Court
of appeals vacated its decision in Zoltek Corp. v. United States, which limited
the scope of 28 U.S.C.S. § 1498(a) to direct infringement under 35 U.S.C.S. §
271(a), because that decision misinterpreted § 1498 and was inconsistent with
35 U.S.C.S. §§ 154 and 271 and 19 U.S.C.S. § 1337.
CORE TERMS: infringement,
patent, manufacture, contractor, invention, patented process, foreign country,
license, sovereign immunity, importation ...
8. Digital-Vending Servs. Int'l,
LLC v. Univ. of Phoenix, Inc., 2011-1216, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR
THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 4753, March 7, 2012, Decided [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers]
OVERVIEW: Where
district court's determination of non-infringement under 35 U.S.C.S. § 271 was
based in part on the erroneous claim construction of the term
"registration server," the judgment was reversed in part and
remanded. Inventors' alleged narrowing of scope in the prosecution history was
not so clear and unmistakable as to warrant estoppel.
CORE TERMS: server,
registration, architecture, managed, specification, summary judgment,
non-infringement, user, disavowal, invention ...
9. In re Staats, 2010-1443,
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS
4524; 101 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) 1930, March 5, 2012, Decided [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers]
OVERVIEW: After
a broadening reissue application had been filed within two year statutory
period, an applicant was "not barred from making further broadening
changes" after the two year period in the course of the prosecution of the
reissue application. Rejection of claims as filed outside the 35 U.S.C.S. § 251
two-year statutory limitation was reversed.
CORE TERMS: reissue,
broadening, patent, embodiment, broadened, isochronous, original patent,
linked, buffers', legislative history ...
10. MySpace, Inc. v. Graphon
Corp., 2011-1149, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, 2012
U.S. App. LEXIS 4375; 101 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) 1873, March 2, 2012, Decided [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers]
OVERVIEW: Patents
relating to the ability to create, modify, and store database records over a
computer network were invalid as anticipated or obvious based on prior art,
since the term "database" was properly construed to include both
hierarchical and relational data organization systems and thus the patents were
not limited to hierarchical systems.
CORE TERMS: patent,
database, invention, user, subject matter, summary judgment, invalidity,
relational, abstract ideas, stored ...
....
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