IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law

Fractured CAFC Denies En Banc Rehearing in Case on Proper Test for Design Patent Infringement

Eileen McDermott — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 17:59:43 +0000

A split U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) today denied a request for rehearing or rehearing en banc of a decision issued in February of this year relating to the proper test for determining design patent infringement. In the February precedential decision, the court affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment of non-infringement to Armaid Company, Inc. that its massage product did not infringe Range of Motion Products LLC’s (RoM’s) design patent claims. The opinion was authored by Judge Cunningham and Chief Judge Moore delivered a dissent in which she claimed her court has caused “the legal frame of reference” in design patent law cases to become “askew.”

The post Fractured CAFC Denies En Banc Rehearing in Case on Proper Test for Design Patent Infringement appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

Weeding Out the Vague: What Gompert Teaches About Trade Secret Identification

Peter J. Toren — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 16:15:56 +0000

Trade secrets occupy a unique position among the major forms of intellectual property. Patents, copyrights, and trademarks are, by design, defined and publicly registered, and can be consulted to determine exactly what is claimed. In contrast, trade secrets depend on their being undisclosed. This creates a structural problem the moment a trade secret owner goes to court. Because they are secret, they cannot be identified in public filings without destroying the very subject matter of the plaintiff's claim. On the other hand, defendants must understand what the secrets are and what they've allegedly misappropriated. In addition, the court needs to know what the case is about to manage it.

The post Weeding Out the Vague: What Gompert Teaches About Trade Secret Identification appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

Patent Count vs. Patent Value: Patent Strategy in the Age of AI | IPWatchdog Unleashed

Gene Quinn — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:44:42 +0000

In the latest episode of IPWatchdog Unleashed, I speak with Joel Meyer, an IP attorney and innovation strategist with more than 30 years of experience building and monetizing technology portfolios. Our conversation is about moving from patent count to patent value—and using IP strategy to preserve business optionality. That leads to a broader discussion about the role of IP counsel. A young company may not yet know whether its future lies primarily in products, services, licensing, acquisition or some combination of those paths. We discuss why the strongest IP strategies anticipate that uncertainty rather than prematurely narrowing the company’s options, and how AI can give sophisticated IP professionals better information and tools to help innovators build protection around what actually creates competitive value.

The post Patent Count vs. Patent Value: Patent Strategy in the Age of AI | IPWatchdog Unleashed appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

CAFC Rejects ‘Ministerial Requirement’ Standard for Non-Provisional Patent Application Priority Dates

Steve Brachmann — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 19:32:07 +0000

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision in Dental Monitoring SAS v. Align Technology, Inc. vacating a final written decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), which had invalidated patent claims directed to dental arch imaging as obvious. In so ruling, the Federal Circuit rejected the PTAB’s conclusion that a prior art reference was entitled to the priority date of its provisional patent application regardless of whether it provided written description support for the later-filed non-provisional application’s claims as long as that later filing complied with certain procedural, or “ministerial,” requirements.

The post CAFC Rejects ‘Ministerial Requirement’ Standard for Non-Provisional Patent Application Priority Dates appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

CAFC Affirms PTAB Win for Netflix

Rose Esfandiari — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 17:15:05 +0000

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a decision today in VL Collective IP, LLC v. Netflix, Inc., affirming a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) final written decision that found all challenged claims of a content delivery patent owned by VL Collective IP, LLC (VideoLabs) unpatentable. The court rejected VideoLabs’ argument that the Board misconstrued a key claim term, and found that neither the claim language nor the patent specification supported the narrower reading VideoLabs proposed.

The post CAFC Affirms PTAB Win for Netflix appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

Federal Circuit Affirms Invalidity of WAG Streaming Media Patent Claims

Rachel Mount — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:15:27 +0000

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday, August 7, affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision invalidating certain claims of WAG Acquisition, LLC’s patent for a streaming media technology patent as anticipated. Judge Stark authored the opinion of the court.

The post Federal Circuit Affirms Invalidity of WAG Streaming Media Patent Claims appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

Federal Circuit Holds There is No ‘Presumption of Irreparable Harm’ on Preliminary Injunction Motions: What Took So Long?

Roy Wepner — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 16:15:14 +0000

On August 4, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) chose to issue a precedential opinion formally holding that there is no “presumption of irreparable harm” in preliminary injunction proceedings in patent cases. The court acknowledged that this conclusion should have been apparent from the 2006 Supreme Court decision in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C., 547 U.S. 388, 393-94 (2006).

The post Federal Circuit Holds There is No ‘Presumption of Irreparable Harm’ on Preliminary Injunction Motions: What Took So Long? appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

Other Barks & Bites for Friday, August 7: PTAB Precedential Ruling Clarifies OTDP Examination Practices; Eleventh Circuit Says Keyword Bidding Isn’t Trademark Infringement; and Buc-ee’s Expands Trademark Enforcement Campaign

Steve Brachmann — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 18:15:30 +0000

This week on Other Barks & Bites: the Ninth Circuit reverses the dismissal of malpractice claims stemming from a pattern of missed case deadlines in a trademark infringement proceeding; the Eleventh Circuit becomes the latest regional circuit court to hold that keyword bidding itself cannot constitute trademark infringement; the Patent Trial and Appeal Board issues a precedential ruling clarifying the framework for examining patents based on obviousness-type double patenting concerns; and more.

The post Other Barks & Bites for Friday, August 7: PTAB Precedential Ruling Clarifies OTDP Examination Practices; Eleventh Circuit Says Keyword Bidding Isn’t Trademark Infringement; and Buc-ee’s Expands Trademark Enforcement Campaign appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

CAFC Affirms PTAB Invalidation of Crossbow Patent, Rejects Patent Owner’s Narrow Claim Construction Argument

Rose Esfandiari — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 14:13:57 +0000

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a decision Thursday in Ravin Crossbows, LLC v. Squires, affirming a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) final written decision that found claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 9,354,015 unpatentable. The dispute centered on how the Board construed the claim term “mounted to” in an inter partes review (IPR) brought by Hunter's Manufacturing Company, doing business as TenPoint Crossbow Technologies.

The post CAFC Affirms PTAB Invalidation of Crossbow Patent, Rejects Patent Owner’s Narrow Claim Construction Argument appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

PTAB ARP Issues Precedential Decision on Obviousness-Type Double Patenting, Asks CAFC for More Clarity

Eileen McDermott — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:39:22 +0000

An Appeals Review Panel (ARP) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s ) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) today issued a decision on sua sponte rehearing reversing a PTAB decision that had itself reversed an examiner’s rejection of claims for obviousness-type double patenting (OTDP). The decision has been designated as precedential and was authored by USPTO Director John A. Squires, PTAB Chief Judge Kalyan Deshpande, and PTAB Acting Deputy Chief Judge Michelle Ankenbrand.

The post PTAB ARP Issues Precedential Decision on Obviousness-Type Double Patenting, Asks CAFC for More Clarity appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

USPTO Policy On Discretion to Deny Ex Parte Reexamination Is Contrary to Statute and Precedent

Stephen Schreiner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:28:31 +0000

As the institution rate of inter partes reviews (IPRs) has plunged under U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director John Squires, parties have increasingly turned to ex parte reexaminations (EPRs) to challenge patents. The number of requests for EPRs has skyrocketed. The number of EPR requests more than doubled between 2020 (198 requests) and 2025 (481 requests). See USPTO Reexam Statistics. Based on the number of requests for EPRs (831) assigned a filing date through Q3 of 2026, we are on track to have more than 1,100 requests for EPRs filed in FY2026. See USPTO Operational Statistics.

The post USPTO Policy On Discretion to Deny Ex Parte Reexamination Is Contrary to Statute and Precedent appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

Issa Introduces Bill to Name Main CAFC Courtroom after Judge Pauline Newman

Eileen McDermott — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 16:11:16 +0000

Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet, has introduced a bill to designate courtroom 201 at the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building located at 717 Madison Place NW, Washington, DC, as the “Pauline Newman Courtroom”. Room 201 is the main courtroom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC).

The post Issa Introduces Bill to Name Main CAFC Courtroom after Judge Pauline Newman appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

The Patent Enforcement Economy Is Leaving Inventors Behind/ IPWatchdog Unleashed

Gene Quinn — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 21:15:54 +0000

The patent system makes a promise that has become increasingly conditional. An inventor discloses an invention to the public and, in return, receives a limited right to exclude. On paper, that bargain remains intact. In the real world, however, a patent owner often discovers that functionally the right is only defensible if the infringement is large enough (but not too large), the damages are high enough (but not too high), the portfolio is deep enough, and somebody is willing to finance years of litigation. Our conversation this week for IPWatchdog Unleashed is about what happens after a patent owner has completed the tedious work of understanding what is actually owned and is now ready to pursue a licensing or enforcement campaign.

The post The Patent Enforcement Economy Is Leaving Inventors Behind/ IPWatchdog Unleashed appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

Nike Loses to Lululemon in CAFC Appeal of PTAB Decision Invalidating Adaptive Watch Patent Claims

Eileen McDermott — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 18:15:42 +0000

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on Wednesday issued an opinion authored by Chief District Judge Cathy Bissoon of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, sitting by designation, affirming a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision that Lululemon had shown the challenged claims of Nike, Inc.’s patent to be unpatentable.

The post Nike Loses to Lululemon in CAFC Appeal of PTAB Decision Invalidating Adaptive Watch Patent Claims appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.

Ninth Circuit Again Reverses Jack Daniel’s Trademark Win Due to Bad Spaniels’ Successful Parody

Steve Brachmann — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:15:20 +0000

On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a published ruling reversing the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona’s entry of permanent injunction for distiller Jack Daniel’s in the long-running trademark case involving VIP Products’ Bad Spaniels dog toy. This latest chapter in the decade-plus-long case remands the decision back to the district court with orders to enter judgment in favor of defendant VIP Products after finding that Jack Daniel’s did not meet its burden to show dilution by tarnishment.

The post Ninth Circuit Again Reverses Jack Daniel’s Trademark Win Due to Bad Spaniels’ Successful Parody appeared first on IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law.