Featured Articles

Will Sprint Communications lead to a rethink of patent law’s standing doctrine?

Dennis Crouch
July 01, 2008 09:52

By TJ Chiang Last week, the Supreme Court decided Sprint Communications Co. v. APCC Services, a case that received more attention for Chief Justice Roberts' citation to Bob Dylan than the mundane federal jurisdiction issues involved. The case involved the...By TJ Chiang Last week, the Supreme Court...

Prior Art Must Enable a Skilled Artisan to Make the Invention without Undue Experimentation

Dennis Crouch
October 07, 2008 05:35

Impax Labs v. Aventis Pharmaceuticals (Fed. Cir. 2008) This appeal focuses on the question of when a prior art disclosure is sufficiently enabled. An Aventis patent covers the use of RILUTEK (riluzole) to treat ALS. Impax filed an ANDA with...Impax Labs v. Aventis Pharmaceuticals (Fed. Cir. 2008)...

Recent Articles

During prosecution, claims are indefinite when amenable to multiple plausible constructions

Dennis Crouch
December 22, 2008 20:34

Ex parte Miyazaki (BPAI Precedential 2008) In a rare precedential opinion, the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) has re-defined the standard for a §112 indefiniteness rejection during patent prosecution. The BPAI's definition for pre-issuance indefiniteness focuses on ...

Patent Law School Exam: Essay No. 3

Dennis Crouch
December 22, 2008 20:25

3. (15 POINTS) Under 35 U.S.C. § 112 patent claims may be invalidated as indefinite. The Federal Circuit has interpreted the law to invalidate patented claims only when those claims are "insolubly ambiguous." The insolubly ambiguous standard is a high...3. (15 POINTS) Under 35 U.S.C. § 112 ...

Federal Circuit Affirms (Not) “Obvious to Try” Jury Instructions

Dennis Crouch
December 22, 2008 19:17

Rentrop v. Spectranetics Corp. (Fed. Cir. 2008) Dr. Rentrop is the chief of research at St. Vincent's Hospital in NYC. For several years Rentrop used Spectranetics optical catheters to deliver LASER treatment. The Spectranetics catheters came in various tip diameters...Rentrop v. Spectranetics...

Federal Circuit Invalidates Immunization Patent for lack of Patentable Subject Matter

Dennis Crouch
December 22, 2008 19:10

Classen Immunotherapies v. Biogen IDEC (Fed. Cir. 2008)(Nonprecedential) Judge Moore penned the one-paragraph Classen decision: "In light of our decision in In re Bilski, 545 F.3d 943 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (en banc), we affirm the district court's grant of summary...Classen Immunotherapies v. Biogen...

Federal Circuit Proposed Timing Rules

Dennis Crouch
December 22, 2008 10:03

The Federal Circuit has proposed a couple of rule changes: Amicus Brief: Any amicus curiae brief or motion for leave to file the brief will now need to be filed within 14 calendar days from the filing of the petition...The Federal Circuit has proposed a couple of rule changes: Amicus Brief: Any...

BPAI: PTO Should Apply Broadest Reasonable Claim Interpretation to Section 101 Analysis

Dennis Crouch
December 21, 2008 16:44

Ex parte Koo (BPAI 2008) Acting sua sponte, a BPAI panel recently entered a new ground for rejection against an IBM patent application: That the claimed process is unpatentable subject matter based on the Federal Circuit's recent en banc decision...Ex parte Koo (BPAI 2008) Acting sua sponte, a BPAI...

CAFC Affirms PTO’s right to fire quality assurance specialist for 35%+ error rate.

Dennis Crouch
December 19, 2008 20:13

Asokkumar Pal v. Department of Commerce (Fed. Cir. 2008)(nonprecedential) Pal was a quality assurance specialist at the USPTO. His job was to review patent examiner decisions and determine whether the examiner made any 'errors' in either rejecting or allowing claims....Asokkumar Pal v. Department...

Means-Plus-Function Fools Gold

Dennis Crouch
December 19, 2008 18:22

Welker Bearing v. PhD, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2008) Mechanism For: Welker's patent claims a clamping mechanism for holding parts in place when welding. The appeal focuses on construction of a "mechanism for moving said finger." Affirming a prior similar ruling,...Welker Bearing v. PhD, Inc. (Fed. Cir....