Kenneth, What Is The Frequency? Prosecution Disclaimer Limits RFID Patent

2008-1412 RFID World v. Wal-MartED/TX 06-cv-363Judge Leonard Davis Patentee RFID appeals from the stipulated summary judgment on noninfringement based on Judge Leonard Davis’s order on claim construction. RFID owns 6,967,563, which is generally directed to an inventory control system including radio frequency identification (RFID) tags attached to inventory items, an interrogator/reader, and a computer.  The [...]

When It Comes To Nitrogen, It’s All About Location, Location, Location

2008-1404 Procter & Gamble v. Teva Pharma D/DE 04-CV-940 <!– @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –> <!– @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –> Teva has appealed Judge Farnan’s final judgment finding P&G’s patent for risedronate sodium valid and infringed.  [...]

FAQs Answered By Kyle and Josh

          Grab some patent news. It don’t cost nothin’! Since starting PATracer, we have received numerous emails, calls and comments from people wanting to know how we did this, why we did that, or if Josh can really snowboard. While some questions are best left unanswered (or unasked), we compiled some [...]

For Smoked Fish, Its Déjà Vu All Over Again

2008-1410 Tuna Processors v. Hawaii Int’lD/HI 1:05-CV-00517Judge Barry Kurren Patentee Tuna Processors ("TPI") appeals from the stipulated judgment of non-infringement in favor of Hawaii Int’l ("HISI") based on Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren’s claim construction.  TPI owns 5,484,619 (the ’619 or Yamaoka patent) directed to curing fish and meat by extra-low temperature smoking.  If this topic [...]

Touché: Synaptics Hits Back

2008-1310 Elantech v. SynapticsND/CA 06-01839Magistrate Judge Patricia V. Trumbull Appeals of preliminary injunction orders often create dual proceedings: the district court case can continue while the Federal Circuit takes up issues related to the injunction.  While we normally focus reports on the CAFC appeal, sometimes  interlocutory appeals give us an opportunity to cover trial court [...]

On The Radar: May 2008

When Kyle and I started PATracer earlier this year, we committed to tracking every case heading to the Federal Circuit.  At the time, even we thought we were nuts.  But a funny thing happened on the way to the blog a few weeks ago–we caught up with the Federal Circuit docket, mostly due to Kyle’s [...]

Prometheus Unbound: Patents Invalid For Claiming Natural Phenomena

2008-1403 Prometheus Labs v. Mayo Collabrative SD/CA 04-cv-1200Judge John Houston Patentee Prometheus appeals from Judge John Houston’s order on summary judgment finding that the patents-in-suit are invalid under § 101 for claiming unpatentable subject matter, specifically "natural phenomena." Prometheus is the exclusive licensee of 6,355,623 and 6,680,302 directed to testing levels of certain metabolites in [...]

Bernardos May Be Loved By Stars…But Aren’t Infringed By Fortune

2008-1402 Bernardo Footwear v. Dillard’sSD/TX 07-CV-0963Judge Nancy Atlas Patentee Bernardo appeals the orders and judgment of Judge Nancy Atlas granting to defendant Fortune Dynamics partial summary judgment on damages for lack of notice and then, after a bench trial, finding non-infringement.  Defendants Dillard’s, Federated Department Stores, and Michael Kors, Inc. all settled earlier in the [...]

A Few Appeals We Barely Got To Know

While avoiding yard work by watching the Portugal/Turkey match in Euro2008, I thought it also a good time for a quick post to report on a few recent appeals that were dismissed, stayed, transferred, or have otherwise drifted off the standard appeals track. 2008-1147 TGIP v. AT&T (joint stipulated dismissal) 2008-1159 Vas-Cath v. Curators Univ. [...]

Disregarding Claim Construction Costs Medtronic Over $10 Million

2008-1401 Depuy Spinal v. Medtronic SofamorD/MA 01-CV-10165Judge Edward Harrington Medtronic appeals Judge Edward Harrington’s order awarding Depuy attorney’s fees under § 285 and sanctioning Medtronic $10 million under the court’s inherent powers. This case is related to appeal numbers 2008-1240 and 2008-1253 which cover the merits of the case.  The fee order was entered on [...]