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Today, the Federal Circuit sitting en banc changed direction again on § 271(a) direct infringement and ruled that Limelight was liable for direct infringement based on substantial evidence supporting the jury verdict of infringement where the “alleged infringer conditions participation in an activity or receipt of a benefit upon performance of a step or steps…

Yesterday, the Federal Circuit issued a decision in Williamson v. Citrix that includes an en banc portion that broadens the circumstances in which claim limitations may be deemed means-plus-function limitations.  This appears to be an effort by the court to address concerns that some patent claims directed to computer-implemented or software inventions may be too…

Today, in Commil USA, LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an accused infringer’s good faith belief that a patent is invalid is not a defense to induced infringement, reversing the Federal Circuit on that issue (see our June 25, 2013 post on the Federal Circuit’s decision).  The Court also…

Today, a Federal Circuit panel, Judges Prost, Linn (author) and Moore (dissent), issued its long-awaited decision in the Akamia v. Limelight case following remand from the Supreme Court to consider the issue of multiple-actor direct infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(a) (see our June 2, 2014 post).  The panel again found that there was…

Earlier this week, in Teva v. Sandoz, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the “factual underpinnings” of a district court’s claim construction decision must be reviewed by the Federal Circuit under the “clear error” standard of review (see our Mar. 31, 2014 post for the question presented).  Many thanks to Clifford A. Katz and…

Today in Commil v. Cisco the Supreme Court granted the petition for writ of certiorari to review the following specific question presented:

Whether the Federal Circuit erred in holding that a defendant’s belief that a patent is invalid is a defense to induced infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b).

We provided a summary of the…

Yesterday, in Virnetx, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, No. 2013-1489, the Federal Circuit ruled that an expert’s damages testimony was not admissible.  The court’s ruling provides guidance on underlying circumstances required to establish a royalty base and a royalty rate as well as questions the viability of using the Nash Bargaining Solution’s 50/50 split of…

Today, in In Re Nintendo involving an infringement complaint against Nintendo and eleven retailer’s of the Nintendo DS video game device, the Federal Circuit (Newman, Rader and Hughes) granted mandamus and ordered Judge Gilstrap of E.D. Texas to (1) sever the claims against Nintendo the manufacturer from the claims against the video game…

Today the Supreme Court in Alice v. CLS Bank applied § 101 patentable subject matter requirements to invalidate patent claims directed to using a generic computer to implement the abstract idea of a conventional business practice that uses a third-party intermediary (e.g., clearing house or escrow agent) to mitigate the “settlement risk” that only one…

Today the Supreme Court issued its decision in Limelight v. Akamai, ruling that there is no liability for induced infringement under §271(b) induced infringement “when no one has directly infringed the patent under §271(a) or any other statutory provision,” thus reversing the Federal Circuit’s prior and more permissive standard that simply required that all…