August 2022 — Design Patent Claim Limits the Scope of the Analogous Prior Art

A recent Federal Circuit decision has held that the claimed article of manufacture in a design patent application is limiting for the purposes of the scope of the relevant prior art. SurgiSil applied for an ornamental design for a lip implant in U.S. design patent application serial no. 29/491,550    
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January 2019 — Unanimous Supreme Court: The America Invents Act Did Not Change The Law On Secret Sales

The Supreme Court, in Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. et al., 586 U.S. ___ (2019), has unanimously held that the America Invents Act amendments to the novelty statute did not modify the existing law on secret offers for sale as a bar to patentability.   
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June 2018 — Federal Circuit Further Narrows Proper Patent Infringement Venue

28 U.S.C. § 1400(b) states that “any civil action for patent infringement may be brought in the judicial district where the defendant resides, or where the defendant has committed acts of infringement and has a regular and established place of business.”  However, in 1990, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“the Federal Circuit”) held that a defendant may be sued for patent infringement in any court that has personal jurisdiction over the defendant.  Personal jurisdiction may be satisfied by a number of connections to the state in which the court is located.  This holding allowed many patent infringement suits to be brought in the plaintiff-friendly Eastern District of Texas.
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January 2018 — BPCIA Provides Exclusive Remedies for Generics’ Failure to Provide Reference Product Manufacturers with Confidential Access

In Amgen Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc. 2017-12-14, Appeal No. 2015-1499, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on remand from the Supreme Court of the United States held that Section 262(l)(2)(A) of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (“BPCIA”) of 2009 is not enforceable by state law injunction.  Previously, the Supreme Court found that Section 262(l)(2)(A) was not enforceable by federal law injunction.    
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June 2017 — The Supreme Court Reins in Lax Patent Venue Rules

On May 22, 2017, the United States Supreme Court in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Food Group Brands LLC., 581 U.S. __ (2017) has tightened rules regarding where patent infringement lawsuits can be filed. Reversing a long-standing practice, the Supreme Court held that a domestic corporation can only be sued for patent infringement in: (1) its state of incorporation; or (2) where the domestic corporation has committed acts of infringement and has a regular and established place of business.
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June 2017 — All Sales are Final

In Impression Products, Inc. v. Lexmark International, Inc. 581 U.S. _______ (2017), the Supreme Court of the United States held that the sale of a patented item anywhere in the world exhausts all patent rights the patent holder held in that item regardless of any restrictions the patent holder placed on the sale.
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