Justia Intellectual Property Opinion Summaries

R+L, owns a patent relating to the less-than-a-load trucking industry and uses the patented method in its business. Carriers in the industry pick up freight from several different customers, often destined for different locations around the country. Freight is taken to a terminal where it is unloaded from the truck and consolidated with other freight headed in the same direction, then reloaded. The patent claims a method that “automates the process of receiving transportation documentation and producing advance loading manifests therefrom to optimize load planning and dynamic product shipment and delivery control.” The patented method enables shipping documents to be sent directly from the truck driver to a common point, such as a terminal, so billing and load planning can occur while the driver is en route with the freight. In 2008, R+L sent cease-and-desist letters to defendants, suspecting infringement. Defendants sought declaratory judgments of invalidity and non-infringement; R+L counterclaimed. The district court ruled against R+L. The Federal Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part. R+L failed to state a claim of contributory infringement, but adequately stated a claim of induced infringement View "R&L Carriers, Inc. v. Drivertech, LLC" on Justia Law

R+L, owns a patent relating to the less-than-a-load trucking industry and uses the patented method in its business. Carriers in the industry pick up freight from several different customers, often destined for different locations around the country. Freight is taken to a terminal where it is unloaded from the truck and consolidated with other freight headed in the same direction, then reloaded. The patent claims a method that “automates the process of receiving transportation documentation and producing advance loading manifests therefrom to optimize load planning and dynamic product shipment and delivery control.” The patented method enables shipping documents to be sent directly from the truck driver to a common point, such as a terminal, so billing and load planning can occur while the driver is en route with the freight. In 2008, R+L sent cease-and-desist letters to defendants, suspecting infringement. Defendants sought declaratory judgments of invalidity and non-infringement; R+L counterclaimed. The district court ruled against R+L. The Federal Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part. R+L failed to state a claim of contributory infringement, but adequately stated a claim of induced infringement

Harari's 880 application, filed in 1999, is a continuation of the 708 application, which was a continuation of the 838 application, which was a divisional of the 566 application, filed in 1989 on the same day as Harari's 579 application. An incorporation statement from the 566 application, referring to copending applications, was copied into the subsequent applications. The 880 application included a photocopy of 566, a transmittal sheet identifying the filing as a continuation, and a preliminary amendment. During interference proceedings, Hollmer argued that Harari's claims were unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 112, because the 579 application was not properly identified in the 880 application because 579 was not filed "on the same day" as the 880 application. The Board agreed. On remand, the Board found that continuity between the 566 and 880 applications was maintained; the intervening 838 and 768 applications contain incorporation language copied from the 566 application but, unlike the 880 application, were never amended to refer to 579 by serial number and filing date. The Board found that a reasonable examiner would have had access to all filing papers, including transmittal sheets and would have understood that the incorporation language in those applications referred to the 579 application. The Federal Circuit reversed. View "Hollmer v. Harari" on Justia Law

An episode of the animated television show, South Park, entitled “Canada On Strike,” satirized the 2007-2008 Writers’ Guild of America strike, popular viral videos, and the difficulty of monetizing Internet fame. In the episode, characters create a video that is a parody of the real world viral video, “What What (In The Butt),” Brownmark, the copyright holder for the original WWITB video, sued for copyright infringement under the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C.101. SPDS claimed that the South Park version was fair use and attached the two works. Brownmark argued that the court could not consider fair use on a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. The district court dismissed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the “well-reasoned and delightful opinion.” The court properly decided fair use on a motion; the only evidence needed to decide the issue were the original version of WWITB and the episode at issue. Under the incorporation-by-reference doctrine, reliance on the attached works did not violate Rule 12(d); if a plaintiff mentions a document in his complaint, the defendant may then submit the document to the court without converting defendant’s 12(b)(6) motion to a motion for summary judgment. View "Brownmark Films, LLC v. Comedy Partners" on Justia Law

Alpha sued defendants, foreign corporations, alleging that defendants conspired to steal its tire blueprints, produce infringing tires, and sell them to entities that had formerly purchased products from Alpha. A jury found in favor of Alpha on all claims and the district court upheld the damages award against defendants' post-trial challenges. Defendants subsequently appealed, contesting the verdict and the district court's exercise of personal jurisdiction. The court initially held that the district court properly exercised jurisdiction over defendants. The court affirmed the district court's judgment that defendants were liable to Alpha under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 101 et seq., and for conversion under Virginia law, but the court dismissed the remaining theories of liability submitted to the jury. Accordingly, the court affirmed the jury's damages award. Finally, the court vacated the district court's award of attorneys' fees. View "Tire Engineering and Distribution, LLC. v. Shandong Linglong Rubber Co." on Justia Law

The patents involve topical compositions for protecting pets from fleas and ticks. The 940 patent, now expired, claimed fipronil for pest control by direct toxicity. Merial, as exclusive licensee, developed compositions sold as Frontline. Merial also devised compositions, covered by the 329 patent, combining fipronil with an insect growth regulator, sold as Frontline Plus, the leading flea and tick treatment. In 2007 Merial sued Cipla and other internet retailers, alleging infringement. No defendant responded. The district court found that the patents were not invalid, that Cipla had infringed each patent, and entered a permanent injunction barring Cipla from directly or indirectly infringing the patents. In 2008 Cipla filed an informal communication, not intended to constitute an appearance, denying infringing or having any presence in the U.S., and requesting dismissal. The district court entered final judgment. Velcera, led by former Merial executives, engaged with Cipla to develop, test, manufacture, and distribute products to compete with Merial. Both Velcera and Cipla entered into development and supply agreements with various companies. In 2011, they began selling PetArmor Plus. The district court held Velcera and Cipla in contempt. The Federal Circuit affirmed, rejecting challenges to jurisdiction and to the contempt order’s application to Velcera. View "Merial, Ltd. v. Cipla, Ltd." on Justia Law

The 148 patent claims a structure for encasing meat products. It describes prior art, which use netting that allows meat to bulge between strands and produce a desirable checkerboard pattern on the meat’s surface, but causes difficulty in peeling netting off the cooked meat. Prior art tried to solve this problem by using a separate layer of collagen film, or stockinette; this required a two-step stuffing process that was labor intensive and expensive. The 148 patent integrates a stockinette into a netting to make a new kind of meat encasement. The integrated stockinette has more stretching ability than the netting and solves the adherence problem without the two-step stuffing process while allowing some bulging to create the grid-like pattern on the meat. Mintz asserts that the 148 patent covers its Jif-Pak knitted meat encasement products. PCM, previously a distributor of Mintz’s Jif-Pak products, now competes with Mintz. Mintz accused PCM’s bubble netting, collagen replacement, and cubic netting product lines of infringement. The district court ruled in favor of PCM. The Federal Circuit affirmed the non-infringement determination and vacated the invalidity holding. With respect to determining obviousness, entirely omitting meat encasement art led the validity search astray View "Mintz v. Dietz & Watson" on Justia Law

Marzetti, which markets five varieties of “New York Brand the Original Texas Toast” croutons, sued under 15 U.S.C. 1125(a) alleging infringement based on Roskam’s use of the mark “Texas Toast” on its packaged croutons. The district court agreed with Roskam that the terminology is generic when describing a type of crouton, so that the mark “Texas Toast” is not entitled to trademark protection and that even if “Texas Toast” were a protectable mark, Roskam’s use did not create a likelihood of confusion among consumers. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, citing the generic quality of the mark. View "T. Marzetti Co. v. Roskam Baking Co" on Justia Law

FNB South Dakota and its affiliates appealed from the district court's entry of a permanent injunction against them as a remedy for trademark infringement and unfair competition claims brought by FNB Sioux Falls. FNB Sioux Falls cross-appealed the denial of its motion for attorney's fees and the district court's purported factual finding that certain of FNB South Dakota's affiliates' names "appear" not to infringe FNB Sioux Falls' marks. The court held that, because the nucleus of operative facts in this action included facts not common to the prior action, this action was not barred by res judicata; the admission of the confusion log was harmless error; the district court's finding of a likelihood of confusion was based on a permissible view of the evidence and was therefore not clearly erroneous; and the district court's denial of fees must be affirmed. The court also declined to strike the challenged language from the district court's Amended Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "The First National Bank v. First National Bank SD, et al." on Justia Law

The patent is entitled “Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Molded Article for Artificial Joints and Method of Preparing the Same.” The examiner rejected a reissue application as obvious, finding that it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use cross-linked UHMWPE in the method of making the UHMWPE products disclosed by a reference, given the teaching of another reference that cross-linking prior to compression deformation results in improved transparency, an increased melting point, and excellent dimensional stability. The examiner further found that one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success in obtaining those enhanced properties by combining the techniques taught by the two references. The Board affirmed, rejecting an argument that there would have been no motivation to combine the teachings because the references are directed to different products. The Federal Circuit affirmed. View "In Re: Hyon" on Justia Law