In Brief: Purechoice v. Honeywell

2008-1482 Purechoice v. HoneywellED/TX 06-cv-00244Judge T. John Ward Purechoice appeals from the judgment of Judge Ward construing certain claim terms of RE38,985 as ambiguous and the claims invalid for indefiniteness.  The patent relates to a remote environmental monitoring system that collects air quality data about a site.  We previously covered the case here, as did [...]

In Brief: Blackboard v. Desire2Learn

2008-1368 Blackboard v. Desire2LearnED/TX 9:06-CV-155Judge Ron Clark Cross-appeals involving Blackboard’s 6,988,138 patent. The jury found Desire2Learn infringed claims 36-38, also finding those claims valid.  The court found claims 1-35 invalid for indefiniteness.  The ’138 is also currently in reexams, with the PTO having preliminarily rejected claims 1-44. Oral argument is scheduled for Tuesday, March 31, [...]

In Brief: Lacks Indus. v. McKenzie Wheel

2008-1167 Lacks Indus. v. McKenzie WheelED/MI 96-CV-75692Judge John Feikens An on-sale bar case where the court concluded that plaintiff’s product quotes—while not likely to be accepted without significant negotiations, back-and-forth, etc.–could have been accepted to create a binding contract, and thus qualify under Group One and establish an on-sale bar. Oral argument is scheduled for [...]

In Brief: Takeda v. Teva

2008-1314 Takeda Pharma v. Teva PharmaD/DE 06-cv-33Judge Susan Robinson An inequitable conduct case regarding the inventors' failure to disclose certain test results during prosecution of 4,628,098.  The district court found the patent enforceable.  The '098 patent covers lansoprazole, marketed by plaintiffs as Prevacid® for gastric ulcers.  The case was previously covered here. Oral argument is [...]

In Brief: Mathworks v. Comsol

2008-1283 Mathworks v. ComsolED/TX 06-cv-334Judge Leonard Davis A claim construction appeal by Mathworks related to 7,051,338 and the parties' respective MATLAB® and COMSOL Script® software programs.  Mathworks essentially stipulated to non-infringement the court construed the term "rank" and "ranking" to require placing the method signatures in an ordered manner relative to one another. Oral argument [...]

In Brief: Dippin’ Dots v. Mosey

2008-1337, 1125 Dippin' Dots v. MoseyND/TX 3:96-cv-1959Judge Thomas Thrash, Jr. A case presumably on its last round as plaintiff appeals from the award under § 285 of attorney fees.  Dippin' Dots lost at trial, lost its trade dress appeal at the 11th Circuit, but partially won the appeal to the CAFC, getting a reversal on [...]

In Brief: Euclid Chemical v. Vector Corrosion

2008-1170 Euclid Chemical v. Vector CorrosionND/OH 05-cv-080Judge Christopher Boyko Disputed is the ownership of 6,217,742.  Euclid was found not to infringe that patent (a finding that was not appealed by Vector), but the court ruled on summary judgment that Vector was assigned the patent despite Euclid’s claim (and a subsequent, competing assignment) to the contrary. [...]

Updated In Brief: Qualcomm v. Broadcom

2007-1545, 2008-1162 Qualcomm v. BroadcomSD/CA 05-CV-1958Judge Rudi Brewster This is the appeal from case relating to the H.264 video compression standard resulting from the Joint Video Team, aka the case in which Qualcomm and its counsel were sanctioned.  We previously posted the Summary of the Arguments here, but now can provide copies of Qualcomm’s opening [...]

In Brief: iLOR v. Google

2008-1178 iLOR v. GoogleED/KY 5:07-cv-00109Judge Joseph Hood The appeal briefs are in for iLOR v. Google.  iLOR alleged that Google Notebook utilizes the enhanced hyperlink feature claimed in 7,206,839.  Judge Hood ultimately denied iLOR’s motion for preliminary injunction and, simultaneously, granted Google’s motion for summary judgment of non-infringement. The decision turned on construction of the [...]

In Brief: Baystate Technologies v. Bowers

2008-1204 Baystate Technologies v. BowersD/MA 91-cv-40079Judge Nathaniel Gorton The appeal brief is in from movant/appellant Professor George Kuney seeking authority to receive and use materials from the underlying Baystate case in a textbook.  The material is covered by a stipulated protective order entered in 1998, and the district court summarily denied his motion to intervene [...]