MERCK & CIE v. WATSON LABORATORIES INC. (Fed. Cir. 2016) (P) – It is not necessary that an actual sale be consummated to trigger the on-sale bar under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)

by Steve Driskill | May 13, 2016 | [sub] offer for sale, Prior Art

While an offer for sale must qualify as a commercial offer under the law of contracts to trigger the on-sale bar under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b), it is not necessary that an actual sale ever be consummated. Here, for example, a fax detailing price and delivery terms,...

IN RE QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY AT KINGSTON (Fed. Cir. 2016) (P) – Patent-agent privilege exists as an independent privilege from but akin to attorney-client privilege

by Steve Driskill | Mar 7, 2016 | [sub] privilege, Client Relations

Patent-agent privilege exists as an independent privilege from but akin to attorney-client privilege and functions to shield from discovery communications between an applicant and its patent agent that are reasonably necessary and incident to the prosecution of...

WI-LAN, INC. v. APPLE INC. (Fed. Cir. 2016) (P) – Even small differences can be sufficient to defeat infringement under the doctrine of equivalents

by Steve Driskill | Jan 8, 2016 | [sub] doctrine of equivalents, Claim Interpretation

Even small differences in operation or design can be sufficient to defeat infringement under the doctrine of equivalents. Here, for example, a parallel architecture that inverted the order of operations for data encoding as compared to the claimed invention, and...

SUPREMA, INC. v. ITC (Fed. Cir. 2015) (NP) – Failure to investigate similar patent discovered during review of another patent may show willful blindness

by Steve Driskill | Sep 14, 2015 | [sub] indirect, Infringement

Willful blindness for establishing induced infringement under § 271(b) may be shown by a deliberate failure to further investigate a patent discovered during review of another patent and having similarities in content, inventorship, and ownership. Here, for example,...

SUPREMA, INC. v. ITC (Fed. Cir. 2015) (P, En Banc) – Claims capturing later induced infringement may still be sufficient to support ITC exclusion order

by Steve Driskill | Aug 10, 2015 | [sub] indirect, Infringement

An exclusion order from the ITC based on a violation of 19 U.S.C. § 1337(a)(1)(B)(i) may be predicated on a theory of induced infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b) where direct infringement does not occur until after importation of the articles the exclusion order...