In the recent decision of Miller Mendel, Inc. v. City of Anna, Texas, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 17637 (Fed. Cir. July 18, 2024), the Federal Circuit upheld the district court’s grant of a motion for judgment on the pleadings under...more
A handwritten or scribbled will signed by the testator is technically known as a holographic will, and many people try to prepare their own wills in an attempt to be frugal. However, are holographic wills valid in...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s summary judgment denial and determination that the definition of “beer” (which encompassed “other versions and combinations” of beer and malt...more
Ohio presents unique challenges to practitioners handling insurance claims in the state. Join Goldberg Segalla partners Michael A. Hamilton and Sean P. Hvisdas as they host a live, interactive webinar on some of the most...more
In Texas Pacific Land Corp. v. Horizon Kinetics, LLC, et al., the Delaware Court of Chancery enforced a “no drafting history clause” that restricted the court’s ability to consider “the events of drafting or preparation” to...more
A previous update analyzed the critical case of Monroe Guaranty Ins. Co. v. Bitco Gen. Ins. Corp., where the Texas Supreme Court recognized an exception to Texas’s “eight corners rule” but found the exception inapplicable to...more
In almost every claim construction, the courts make their claim construction ruling largely based on the intrinsic evidence – the claims, specification and prosecution history. However, the Federal Circuit (CAFC) bucked this...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined that the limitation “a pH of 13 or higher” could not be construed using the asserted patents’ intrinsic evidence and therefore remanded to the district court with...more
Pennsylvania presents unique challenges to practitioners handling insurance claims in the state. Join Goldberg Segalla partners Michael A. Hamilton, Colleen E. Hayes and Sean P. Hvisdas as they host a live, interactive...more
The Federal Circuit's claim construction gospel set forth in Phillips has been entrenched in the minds of patent litigators for nearly 20 years.1 The intrinsic evidence - the claims, specification, and prosecution history -...more
The Supreme Court of Tennessee has approved a trial court’s consideration of extrinsic evidence regarding whether an individual with Down syndrome had the capacity to execute a durable power of attorney that his brother used...more
When determining whether insurance coverage exists for a claim, a crucial consideration is whether the claim involves an event or occurrence that took place in a state other than where the relevant policy was delivered. This...more
Third Circuit questions, but declines to decide, whether Pennsylvania’s “four corners” rule permits an insurer under a claims-made professional liability insurance policy to terminate its defense of the insured based on...more
Addressing the registrability of marks for cannabis-related products, the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board upheld an Examiner’s refusal to register marks for an “essential oil dispenser” based on extrinsic evidence that the...more
This week, the Court considers the President’s authority under the Antiquities Act to preclude logging on federal lands that another federal statute contemplated would generally be used as timberlands, and it addresses how...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reiterated that intrinsic evidence trumps extrinsic evidence in determining the meaning of claim terms. Sequoia Technology, LLC v. Dell, Inc. et al., Case Nos. 21-2263; -2264;...more
If you think claim construction is more fun than watching paint peel, then you’re probably a patent lawyer. And what’s more fun than claim construction? Claim construction with an indefiniteness challenge, as happened in this...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit addressed the tension between the intrinsic and extrinsic record in claim construction, holding that the intrinsic record should be relied on first. The Court therefore reversed...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a Patent Trial & Appeal Board (Board) obviousness decision after finding that the patent owner failed to explain how its cited extrinsic evidence supported its proposed...more
Last year, the Texas Supreme Court adopted a narrow exception to the state’s eight-corners rule, and allowed the consideration of extrinsic evidence to determine the duty to defend. The exception arguably raised more...more
Last week, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided Norman International, Inc. v. Admiral Insurance Company, No. 086155 (N.J. Aug. 11, 2022). At issue was coverage for a work-site injury and the interpretation of a policy...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently applied the newly adopted Texas Supreme Court decision outlining those circumstances in which extrinsic evidence may be used to determine an insurer's duty to defend...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a district court determination that the claim terms “resilient” and “pliable” were indefinite. The Federal Circuit found that the claims, while broad, were...more
On March 16, 2022, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied Biogen International GmbH and Biogen MA, Inc.’s (“Biogen”) combined petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in Biogen International GmbH v....more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s grant of summary judgment of noninfringement after concluding that the district court erred by relying on expert testimony to construe a claim term...more