Justia Intellectual Property Opinion Summaries

Plaintiff filed suit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. 1961, et seq., challenging the district court's judgment in favor of defendants. In this case, plaintiff alleged that defendants were members of two enterprises that conspired to sue plaintiff for, inter alia, trademark infringement. The Second Circuit held that the alleged litigation activities did not constitute RICO predicate acts. The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying plaintiff leave to amend, plaintiff's motion to disqualify, and defendants' motions for sanctions. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Kim v. Kimm" on Justia Law

Fox filed suit against TVEyes for copyright infringement after TVEyes, a media company that continuously records the audiovisual content of more than 1,400 television and radio channels, enabled its clients to watch Fox's programming. The Second Circuit held that TVEyes's actions were not protected by the fair use doctrine. The court explained that, although TVEyes's re‐distribution of Fox's content served a transformative purpose by enabling clients to isolate material and to access it in a conventional manner, such re‐distribution makes available to clients virtually all of Fox's copyrighted content that clients wish to see and hear. Therefore, TVEyes deprived Fox of revenue that properly belongs to the copyright holder. The court reversed the district court's order to the extent that it found fair use; affirmed the district court's order to the extent that it denied TVEyes's request for additional relief; and remanded for entry of a revised injunction. View "Fox News Network, LLC v. TVEyes, Inc." on Justia Law

Fox filed suit against TVEyes for copyright infringement after TVEyes, a media company that continuously records the audiovisual content of more than 1,400 television and radio channels, enabled its clients to watch Fox's programming. The Second Circuit held that TVEyes's actions were not protected by the fair use doctrine. The court explained that, although TVEyes's re‐distribution of Fox's content served a transformative purpose by enabling clients to isolate material and to access it in a conventional manner, such re‐distribution makes available to clients virtually all of Fox's copyrighted content that clients wish to see and hear. Therefore, TVEyes deprived Fox of revenue that properly belongs to the copyright holder. The court reversed the district court's order to the extent that it found fair use; affirmed the district court's order to the extent that it denied TVEyes's request for additional relief; and remanded for entry of a revised injunction. View "Fox News Network, LLC v. TVEyes, Inc." on Justia Law

On inter partes review of Arendi’s patent, which relates to a computerized method for identifying and substituting information in an electronic document, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board held all of the claims unpatentable. The claims recite a method of information handling whereby information such as a name or address is identified in a document, a database is searched for related information, and the retrieved information is displayed and entered into the document, all on a single command from the user. The Federal Circuit affirmed, based on the PTAB’s alternative claim construction. Even if Arendi’s prosecution disclaimer were accepted, the claims are unpatentable for obviousness in view of prior art. View "Arendi S.A.R.L. v. Google LLC" on Justia Law

DRK, a purported assignee of photographers' rights to sue for infringement, filed suit seeking statutory damages from Wiley, a licensee, for exceeding its licensed use of certain photographs as to which DRK non‐exclusively represents the photographers. The Second Circuit invoked its precedent in Eden Toys v. Florelee Undergarment, Co., 697 7 F.2d 27 (2d Cir. 1982), and held that as a matter of law the Copyright Act did not permit prosecution of infringement suits by assignees of the bare right to sue that were not and have never been a legal or beneficial owner of an exclusive right under copyright. In this case, the court held that DRK was not and has never been the holder of an exclusive right in the photographs. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "John Wiley & Sons, Inc. v. DRK Photo" on Justia Law

DRK, a purported assignee of photographers' rights to sue for infringement, filed suit seeking statutory damages from Wiley, a licensee, for exceeding its licensed use of certain photographs as to which DRK non‐exclusively represents the photographers. The Second Circuit invoked its precedent in Eden Toys v. Florelee Undergarment, Co., 697 7 F.2d 27 (2d Cir. 1982), and held that as a matter of law the Copyright Act did not permit prosecution of infringement suits by assignees of the bare right to sue that were not and have never been a legal or beneficial owner of an exclusive right under copyright. In this case, the court held that DRK was not and has never been the holder of an exclusive right in the photographs. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "John Wiley & Sons, Inc. v. DRK Photo" on Justia Law

Aatrix's patents have essentially the same specification and are directed to systems and methods for designing, creating, and importing data into a viewable form on a computer so that a user can manipulate the data and create viewable forms and reports. The preferred embodiment describes a data processing system with a form file, a data file, and a viewer. The form file is created using in-house form development tools to model the physical characteristics of an existing form, including the calculations and rule conditions required to fill in the form. The data file allows data from third-party applications to be “seamlessly imported” to populate the form's fields. The viewer generates a report by merging the data, performing calculations, and allowing the user to review and change the values. In an infringement action, the district court found several claims invalid as directed to ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101. The Federal Circuit vacated the dismissal. . The district court erred in determining that a claim was ineligible because it is not directed to a tangible embodiment and in denying leave to amend without claim construction. The court noted factual allegations in a proposed amended complaint, that, if accepted, establish that the claimed combination contains inventive components and improves the workings of the computer. View "Aatrix Software, Inc v. Green Shades Software, Inc" on Justia Law

Aatrix's patents have essentially the same specification and are directed to systems and methods for designing, creating, and importing data into a viewable form on a computer so that a user can manipulate the data and create viewable forms and reports. The preferred embodiment describes a data processing system with a form file, a data file, and a viewer. The form file is created using in-house form development tools to model the physical characteristics of an existing form, including the calculations and rule conditions required to fill in the form. The data file allows data from third-party applications to be “seamlessly imported” to populate the form's fields. The viewer generates a report by merging the data, performing calculations, and allowing the user to review and change the values. In an infringement action, the district court found several claims invalid as directed to ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101. The Federal Circuit vacated the dismissal. . The district court erred in determining that a claim was ineligible because it is not directed to a tangible embodiment and in denying leave to amend without claim construction. The court noted factual allegations in a proposed amended complaint, that, if accepted, establish that the claimed combination contains inventive components and improves the workings of the computer. View "Aatrix Software, Inc v. Green Shades Software, Inc" on Justia Law

The 222 Application, entitled “System and Method for Operating a Drain Valve,” is directed to a valve assembly for draining contaminants, condensation, and other fluids that adversely affect the efficiency and function of a pressurized system. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board affirmed the examiner’s rejection of all claims as anticipated (35 U.S.C. 102(b)) and/or obvious (35 U.S.C. 103). The Federal Circuit reversed as to anticipation, finding the holdings not supported by substantial evidence, and vacated the obviousness determinations. The Board’s strained interpretation of “signal” was unreasonably broad and inconsistent with the 222 application. The Board did not provide an adequate evidentiary basis or explanation for its determination that the claims would have been obvious. View "In re: Hodges" on Justia Law

Merck’s 353 patent claims mometasone furoate monohydrate, the active ingredient in Merck’s Nasonex® nasal product. Amneal submitted an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval to market a generic mometasone furoate nasal spray. In Merck’s infringement suit, the district court found that Merck failed to prove that Amneal’s ANDA product will infringe. The Federal Circuit affirmed, upholding the district court’s refusal to require Amneal to produce additional samples of its ANDA product for testing before trial. The court rejected a claim that the noninfringement finding must be reversed because it was not based on Amneal’s final commercial product. The district court did not clearly err in finding that a Raman spectroscopy three-peak analysis was required to confirm the infringing form of mometasone furoate in Amneal’s product. Raman spectroscopy is a vibrational spectroscopy technique. A laser is used to generate a Raman spectrum, which indicates the vibrational modes of molecules and can be used to differentiate crystalline forms. View "Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC" on Justia Law