News & Analysis as of

Functionality Patents

Knobbe Martens

Traffix Jam – Technical Functionality Prevents Trademark Protection for the Color Pink

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CERAMTEC GMBH v. COORSTEK BIOCERAMICS LLC - Before Lourie, Taranto, and Stark.  Appeal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. A utility patent may still be considered strong...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Ceramtec GMBH v. Coorstek Biocermanics LLC

This case examines the application of trademark functionality doctrine in the medical device industry, specifically addressing whether the pink color of ceramic hip components can be protected as a trademark. The case...more

McDermott Will & Emery

When Can Same Claim Limitation Have Different Meanings? When It’s Functional, Of Course

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Addressing for the first time whether a functional limitation must carry the same meaning in all claims, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined that it need not, vacating a district court decision to the...more

J.S. Held

Software and Firmware Reverse Engineering & Testing

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Understanding how hardware and firmware/software work together to perform desired functions or tasks is an important enabler to unlocking the value of intellectual properties in the systems (including embedded systems) area....more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

MarkIt to Market® - May 2023

Thank you for reading the May 2023 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss Taco Bell's attempt to cancel two TACO TUESDAY trademark registrations, and a precedential TTAB decision...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Burdens Can’t Be Avoided No Matter How They’re Dressed Up

Addressing a multitude of issues, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling dismissing infringement of one patent and finding a trade dress invalid but reversed the invalidation of...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

District Court Granted Dismissal Because the Patent Recited a Patent-Ineligible Abstract Idea of Processing and Transmitting Data

Chief Judge Lynn in the Northern District of Texas recently granted a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss a complaint alleging patent infringement because the claim-at-issue recites patent-ineligible subject matter under 35...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Federal Circuit Reverses Judge Stark Decision, Finds Computer Network Patent Eligible

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The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concluded that a representative claim was directed to a patent-eligible improvement to computer functionality, and therefore reversed a decision authored by Judge Leonard P....more

MoFo Life Sciences

Traversing Higher Hurdles For Functional Limitations Under Section 112

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Genus claims have long been an important component of patent strategy, extending coverage around a lead compound to stop would-be competitors. Recent decisions from the Federal Circuit, however, highlight a tightening...more

Smart & Biggar

Fact or fiction? Debunking patent myths for business and technology leaders.

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There are many misconceptions or ‘myths’ about patents that have found their way into popular discourse, ranging from what type of innovations are patentable, to how important it is to own and protect your intellectual...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Blockchain Patentability Through The Lens Of A Recent PTAB Decision

Blockchain patent applications may be divided into two types: underlying technologies of blockchain, such as consensus methods, security, etc., and applications of blockchain in, e.g., fintech, legal, and other industries. In...more

Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, P.C.

A Heightened Bar: Federal Circuit Leaves Functional Antibody Claims on Thin Ice

In a precedential opinion in Amgen Inc. et al. v. Sanofi, Aventisub LLC, et al., No. 20-1074 (Fed. Cir. 2021) issued on February 11, 2021, the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision of the United States District Court for the...more

Smart & Biggar

Allowance of Choueifaty patent application provides insight into CIPO's future approach to patentable subject matter

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In an apparent conclusion to the patent at the heart of the Federal Court of Canada’s decision in Yves Choueifaty v Attorney General of Canada, 2020 FC 837 [Choueifaty], Canadian patent application no. 2635393 (CA ‘393) was...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Patent for the Squatty Potty

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The Squatty Potty is a special stool that a user places in front of the toilet when it's 'time for business'. The user places her feet on the stool to elevate her knees, thereby helping the user assume a squat position when...more

Knobbe Martens

Federal Circuit Review - December 2020

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Non-Disclosure Agreement Controls Ownership of Patents Arising From Confidential Information Received Thereunder - In Sionyx LLC v. Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Appeal No. 19-2359, the Federal Circuit held that a party who...more

Knobbe Martens

No Simulating Alice Requirements: Application of Abstract Ideas Alone Cannot Transform Patent Ineligible Subject Matter

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SIMIO, LLC V. FLEXSIM SOFTWARE PRODUCTS, INC. Before Prost, Clevenger, and Stoll. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Summary: A claim whose only inventive concept is the applications...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

Simio, LLC v. FlexSim Software Products, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2020)

This decision is bad.  Not an American Axle level of bad, but still quite far from good. Simio sued FlexSim in the District of Utah for alleged infringement of its U.S. Patent No. 8,156,468.  FlexSim moved for dismissal on...more

Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, P.C.

Tips for Reviewing (or Drafting) Patent Claims

For emerging companies, a patent application should combine legal skill with technical and business knowledge to produce a document that will serve as a foundation to the company’s valuation and future profitability....more

Holland & Knight LLP

Remote Appliance Control Patent Compared to Pony Express, Invalid Under Section 101

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Karamelion has asserted its two patents more than 40 times since the summer of 2018, typically settling the cases prior to a responsive pleading. This activity will have to go on hold, at least for the time being, as the U.S....more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

C R Bard Inc. v. AngioDynamics, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2020)

One of the more intellectually dishonest aspects of current patent eligibility law is that it allows one to ignore certain claim elements when evaluating claims under 35 U.S.C. § 101.  In Mayo v. Prometheus, it was stated...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

On the Patent Eligibility of Graphical User Interfaces: Part II

This article is Part II of a study on the patent eligibility of graphical user interfaces.  Part I was published yesterday.  We continue from where we left off, with overviews of a handful of Federal Circuit § 101 decisions...more

Haug Partners LLP

“That’s the way the cookie crumbles!” Third Circuit Court of Appeals Considers Differences Between Trade Dress and Patent...

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In Ezaki Glico Kabushiki Kaisha v. Lotte International America Corp., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit considered a trade dress infringement dispute between two confectioners. Ezaki Glico (“Ezaki”), a Japanese...more

Jones Day

Balance is Key in Design Patent Claim Drafting

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The Patent Trial and Appeal Board recently designated as informative its decision instituting post-grant review and addressing the issues of design patent functionality in Sattler Tech Corp. v. Humancentric Ventures, LLC. ...more

Mintz - Intellectual Property Viewpoints

PTAB Designates As Informative a Decision Instituting Post-Grant Review for a Design Patent Lacking Ornamentality

On June 11, 2020, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) designated as informative a July 26, 2019 institution decision granting post-grant review of a design patent for lacking ornamentality. In this ruling, the PTAB...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Focusing on Functionality, Software Claims Found Patent Eligible

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The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that patent claims directed to a communication system were patent eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because the claimed invention changes the normal operation of a...more

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