IP(DC) Podcast: Patent Battles – New Patent Initiatives on the Hill & Notable CAFC/SCOTUS Decisions
Podcast: Patentable Subject Matter in 2019
In this edition of The Precedent, we outline the decision in Steuben Foods Inc. v. Shibuya Hoppmann Corp. This case addresses whether the reverse doctrine of equivalents (RDOE) is a viable defense to patent infringement....more
While courts have often warned that hindsight bias should be avoided when assessing whether a patented invention would have been obvious to the skilled person, the application of this principle can be challenging in practice....more
On January 24, in Steuben Foods, Inc v. Shibuya Hoppman Corporation, the Federal Circuit found that Steuben had made a compelling argument that the common law Reverse Doctrine of Equivalents (RDOE) did not survive the 1952...more
Steuben Foods, Inc. v. Shibuya Hoppman Corp., Appeal No. 2023-1790 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 24, 2025) In its only precedential patent decision this week, the Federal Circuit addressed an “anachronistic exception, long mentioned but...more
As companies—and more recently, courts—have struggled to address the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in innovation, legislators are embroiled in a struggle of their own. Over the past two years, the Senate and House have...more
Roughly half the world’s population menstruates at some point in their lives. While menstruation is essential for human life and a critical indicator of health, it is plagued with stigma. Around the world people who...more
The Federal Circuit determined that if a company misleads consumers about the nature of a product by making false patent marking claims, it can be held liable under the Lanham Act. False marking claims under the Lanham Act...more
As we move into the second half of the year, we are alerting you to 11 patent cases that you should look out for during the second half of 2024. This judicial mix touches on a range of industries and interests, such as...more
Recently, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) released proposed guidelines addressing the complex issue of AI inventorship. The PTO is not the only agency attempting to tackle this issue; jurisdictions...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has updated its patent subject-matter eligibility guidance to address inventions involving artificial intelligence (AI). Our Intellectual Property Team examines how the revised...more
Kilpatrick’s Ted Mayle and Kevin Bell recently presented “What Corporate Counsel Need to Know About Patent Damages” at the ACC Colorado In-House Counsel Forum. With reports of nine-figure jury awards in patent cases being...more
In the 1950’s, Alan Turing famously asked, “Can machines think?” Decades later, artificial intelligence—a term coined after Turing’s death—has become a facet of our everyday lives. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used...more
The USPTO published its new “Inventorship Guidance for AI-assisted Inventions” on the Federal Register on February 13, 2024. This new guidance was in part a response to the Federal Circuit’s Thaler decision, which ruled that...more
As directed by President Biden’s Executive Order (EO) on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (the AI EO), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) released its...more
The Background: In response to the Biden administration's "Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence" on October 30, 2023, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office...more
In 2022, the Federal Circuit definitively ruled that artificial intelligence (AI) systems cannot be named inventors or co-inventors on patent applications, reinforcing the longstanding principle that only natural persons are...more
One of 2023’s more significant — and potentially disruptive — developments in business and culture was the arrival of a slew of generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems. At the beginning of 2023, ChatGPT quickly...more
It has been four years since amendments to the Patent Act and Patent Rules were made, bringing the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) into force in Canada. The most consequential changes have proven to be the handling of missed...more
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has the remarkable ability to develop novel solutions to problems, and patent law has historically protected those solutions. Under current statutes and jurisprudence, however, only...more
Section 102 of the Patent Act holds that an invention may not be patented if it was in public use before the effective filing date of the patented invention. The public use bar to patenting is triggered if the invention is...more
United States Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2023 (the “Act”) on June 22, 2023. The Act seeks to modify and clarify “patent eligibility jurisprudence...more
The Court’s reasoning in Amgen v. Sanofi upholds the Federal Circuit’s long-standing requirement to enable the full scope of a claimed invention. Since the Patent Act of 1790, patent law has required describing inventions...more
In re: John L. Couvaras, Appeal No. 2022-1489 (Fed. Cir. June 14, 2023) In our Case of the Week, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeals Board decision that a patent application’s...more
On May 18, 2023, the Supreme Court affirmed the Federal Circuit’s (CAFC) decision on enablement in Amgen Inc. v. Sanofi, 987 F.3d 1080 (CA Fed. 2021). The Court thus left in place a significant decision making it more...more
In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) addressed the enablement requirement under Section 112 of the Patent Act, placing this into sharper focus with the Amgen v. Sanofi case. This landmark...more