In Microsoft Corp v. Biscotti, Inc., [2016-2080, 2016-2082, 2016-2083] (December 28, 2017), the Federal Circuit affirmed the Board’s determination in the IPR’s that Microsoft failed to show by a  preponderance of the evidence that the challenged claims of U.S. Patent No. 8,144,182 were anticipated or obvious.

The challenged patent related to “tools and techniques for providing video calling solutions” and relates to real-time video conferencing where two or more users communicate, over a network, in a conference that includes video and audio of each participant.

Microsoft appeared to challenge the standard of review of anticipation, so the Federal Circuit began by reiterating that anticipation is a question of fact subject to substantial evidence review.  Noting that the Board correctly articulated the anticipation standard, the Federal Cricuit considered whether the Board properly applied that standard. ,   anticipate the claimed invention, a prior art reference must disclose all elements of the claim within the four corners of the document, and it
must disclose those elements arranged as in the claim, the Federal Circuit.  Noting that the Board may have used wording such as  “identically” more liberally than it should have because an anticipation analysis indisputably allows for some flexibility, the Federal Circuit found that the Board’s analysis did not suffer from a misapplication of the anticipation standard.  The Federal Circuit found that the Board therefore did not require word-for-word similarity or perfection, and explicitly considered whether a POSA would “at once envisage” the combination of the claimed invention given the disconnected teachings of the reference.

However even though the Board articulated the correct standard, and applied the correct standard, this did not mean that the Board’s analysis was correct.  Microsoft argued that the Board read the prior art too narrowly, limiting certain disclosures to particular embodiments, and not applying them to all disclosed embodiments.  The Federal Circuit said although Microsoft’s arguments were not unreasonable, it does not review this question de novo; anticipation is a question of fact, reviewed for substantial evidence.  In light of this deference, the Federal Circuit affirmed the Board’s decision.

The Federal Circuit found that Microsoft’s brief on appeal with respect to one claim was more detailed and contained substantial new arguments regarding anticipation, and rejected them because they were not presented in the Petition.

U.S. Patent No. D527217 on a Thanksgiving Embossed Insert for a Baking Pan, echos today’s message: 

Back when crossing an ocean to an unknown destination in a 62 foot  boat was something worthy of praise, the life and travels of Christopher Columbus were celebrated, including in this patented badge and plaque.

In Jang v. Boston Scientific Corp., [2016-1275, 2016-1575](September 29, 2017), the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Jang’s motion for JMOL, its vacatur of the jury verdict of infringement under the doctrine of equivalents, and its entry of judgment of non-infringement.

At issue was U.S. Patent No. 5,922,021 on coronary stents, which the jury found not literally infringed, but infringed under the Doctrine of Equivalents.  The Federal Circuit noted that the district court must uphold a jury’s verdict if it is supported by substantial evidence, which is evidence adequate to support the jury’s conclusion, even if it is also possible to draw a contrary conclusion, and in the Ninth Circuit reverses the denial only if the record lacks any evidence supporting the verdict or if the district court made a mistake of law.   The Federal Circuit noted that Jang failed to persuade the district court that BSC’s non-infringement arguments were legally erroneous, and that it was similarly unpersuaded.

On the Doctrine of Equivalents, the Federal Circuit noted that a doctrine of equivalents theory cannot be asserted if it will encompass or “ensnare” the prior art.  This is true even if a jury has found equivalence as to each claim element.  The Federal Circuit explained that a hypothetical claim analysis is a practical method to determine whether an equivalent would impermissibly ensnare the prior art. The Federal Circuit agreed with the district court that Jang’s hypothetical claims were improper because they both expaneded and narrowed the scope of the actual claims, and such narrowing is not permitted.  While use of a hypothetical claim may
permit a minor extension of a claim to cover subject matter that is substantially equivalent to that literally claimed, one cannot, in the course of litigation and outside of the PTO, cut and trim, expanding here, and narrowing there, to arrive at a claim that encompasses an accused
device, but avoids the prior art.

The Federal Circuit explained that when utilizing the hypothetical
claim tool, that burden starts with proposing a proper hypothetical claim that only broadens the issued asserted claims, and said that Jang cannot  transfer the responsibility of defining the range of equivalents to which he is entitled to the district court.  Jang failed to meet this burden, and thus the district court thus correctly vacated the jury verdict of infringement under the doctrine of equivalents.

In First Data Corp. v. Inselberg, [2016-2677, 2016-2696] (September 15, 2017), the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s declaratory judgment and defendant’s counterclaims.

The ownership dispute regarding Inselberg’s patent portfolio stemmed from a $500,000 loan that Interactive received from Bisignano, which  Inselberg personally guaranteed, and for which Interactive granted Bisignano a security interest in the portfolio of patents it owned at the time.  Inselberg and Interactive defaulted on the loan from Bisignano, and Inselberg and Bisignano entered into an agreement that purported to
convey Interactive’s patent portfolio to Bisignano.

Inselberg claimed that the assignment to Bisignano was invalid, and that Bisignano and First Data were infringers.  Bisignano and First Data brought a declaratory judgment action of non-infringement in Federal Court, and Inselberg brought an action in state court attacking the assignment to Bisignano, which Bisignano removed to Federal Court.  However the district court found that the rights at issue in the case were ownership rights turning on questions of state law, and remanded the case to state court, finding that there was no federal cause of action unless and until Inselberg recovers the patents.

The Federal Circuit agreed with the district court, and further found that the case was not ripe for adjudication Inselberg’s claim rests upon a contingent future event, that may not occur as anticipated or may not occur at all.  The Federal Circuit further found that the decision to remand was based on 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), and thus Section 1447(d) precluded it from reviewing the district court’s remand order.

In Waymo LLC v. Uber Technologies, Inc., [2017-2235, 2017-2253] (September 13, 2017), the Federal Circuit denied intervenor  Levandowski’s petition for a writ of mandamus.  Waymo alleges
that its former employee, Levandowski, improperly downloaded thousands of documents related to Waymo’s driverless vehicle technology and then left Waymo to found Ottomotto, which Uber subsequently acquired.  Before the acquisition closed, counsel for Ottomotto and Uber (but not counsel for Mr. Levandowski) jointly retained a law firm to investigate  Ottomotto employees previously employed by Waymo, including Mr. Levandowski.  Waymo sought to obtain the report, which the court permitted, and Levandowski unsuccessfully attempted to block with a write of mandamus.  The Federal Circuit said that a petitioner has to show three things to be entitled to the writ:

First, the party seeking issuance of the writ must have no other adequate means to attain the relief he desires—a condition designed to ensure that the writ will not be used as a substitute for the regular appeals process. Second, the petitioner must satisfy the burden of showing that his right to issuance of the writ is clear and indisputable. Third, even if the first two prerequisites have been met, the issuing court, in the exercise of its discretion, must be satisfied that the writ is appropriate
under the circumstances.

The Federal Circuit found that Levandowski failed the first test — establishing he had no other adequate remedy.  While Levandowski argued that an appeal after the disclosure was in effect no remedy, the Federal Circuit concluded that a post-judgment appeal by either Uber or Levandowski would suffice to protect the rights of Levandowski and ensure the vitality of attorney-client privilege.  The Federal Circuit went on to find that Levandowski failed to show that his right to issuance of the writ was clear and indisputable.  Finally, the Federal Circuit said that  Levandowski had not persuaded it to exercise its discretion here and overrule the District Court.

In Southwire Co. v. Cerro Wire LLC, [2016-2287](September 8, 2017), the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB’s decision in an inter partes reexamination that the claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,557,301 on a method of making cable are unpatentable under 35 USC 103.

The invention related to the inclusion of lubricant in the plastic jacket of electrical cable that will migrate to the exterior of the sheath and lubricate the surface during installation.  The Board affirmed the Examiner’s rejection of the claims over prior art that included a fiber optic cable that can include a friction reducing additive that migrates to the surface of the cable jacket.  Although the prior art did not specifically teach some of the details, such as a 30% reduction in pulling force, the Board held that where the claimed and prior art products are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation
or obviousness has been established, and thus the claimed details were inherent.

The Federal Circuit found that the Board erred in relying on inherency in making its obviousness determination. The use of inherency in the
context of obviousness must be carefully circumscribed because that which may be inherent is not necessarily known and that which is unknown cannot be obvious.  While the Federal Circuit has recognized that inherency may supply a missing claim limitation in an obviousness
analysis, the limitation at issue necessarily must be present in order to be inherently disclosed by the reference.  The Federal Circuit noted that the Board cited no evidence that the claimed 30% reduction in the pulling force would necessarily result from the claimed process, which contains no steps that ensure such reduction.

Thus the Federal Circuit found that the Board erred in relying on inherency without finding that Summers necessarily would achieve the claimed 30% reduction in pulling force, but rather finding that it
merely renders that limitation obvious. However, the Federal Circuit concluded that the Board’s error was harmless because it did not need to invoke inherency.

The Federal Circuit said that none of the patented steps differs in any material way from the process disclosed in the prior art, and there was no evidence that the claimed 30% reduction in pulling force would have been unexpected or unattainable.  In fact, the Federal Circuit said there was no evidence that the process disclosed in the prior art the at least 30% reduction.  Simply because the prior art never quantified the reduction in pulling force achieved by its disclosed embodiments
does not preclude the possibility, or even likelihood, that its process achieved the claimed at least a 30% reduction, especially since its stated purpose was the same.  The Federal Circuit concluded that In the
absence of any evidence that the claimed 30% reduction would have been unexpected in light of the prior art, there is no indication that the limitation is anything other than mere quantification of the results of
a known process.

as that