Owens Corning v. Fast Felt Corp.

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Fast Felt’s patent describes and claims methods for printing nail tabs or reinforcement strips on roofing or building cover material. Fast Felt sued Owens Corning for infringement. Owens Corning then filed a petition with the Patent and Trademark Office seeking an inter partes review (IPR) of five claims under 35 U.S.C. 311–19. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board concluded that Owens Corning had failed to show obviousness of any of the challenged claims. The Federal Circuit reversed, stating that, once the key claim term, “roofing or building cover material,” is given its broadest reasonable interpretation, the record conclusively establishes obviousness. The Board effectively treated that term as limited to material that either has been or would be coated or saturated with asphalt or asphalt mix; such a construction is legally incorrect under the broadest-reasonable-interpretation standard applicable in the IPR. View "Owens Corning v. Fast Felt Corp." on Justia Law