IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law

CAFC Finds Profitability-Calculation Patent Claims Ineligible

Rose Esfandiari — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 22:40:33 +0000

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a decision today in Berkeley*IEOR v. W.W. Grainger Inc., reversing a district court’s grant of summary judgment that a set of profitability-calculation patent claims were eligible under Section 101. The CAFC held that the representative claim is directed to an abstract idea and that the inventive concept identified by the district court, a form of parallel computer processing, is not required by the claim language.

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The Application File Never Really Closes: Implications of Recent Case Law on the Prosecution Record

Tim Bright — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:03:49 +0000

Patent prosecution is often treated as a sequence of discrete tasks: respond to the office action. Amend the claim. Make the argument. Obtain allowance. Move on. Recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decisions show why that model is incomplete. The prosecution record can later shape infringement theories, affect whether a reference qualifies as prior art, and determine whether a statutory avenue for review remains available. The cases arise under different doctrines, but they support one durable conclusion: prosecution is part of the patent's long-term risk allocation.

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Amici Tell Justices to Rein In USPTO’s ‘Settled Expectations’ Doctrine

Eileen McDermott — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 16:15:01 +0000

Following a July petition for writ of certiorari filed by Kahoot AS! asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) “settled expectations” doctrine for denying inter partes review (IPR) requests is authorized under the patent statute, the PTAB Bar Association and other amici this past week have urged the Court to take up…

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Other Barks & Bites for Friday, September 18: Third Circuit Hears Arguments in Vintage Merch Case; Ninth Circuit Nixes Output Challenge Under DMCA; and CAFC Affirms Attorneys’ Fees in Lab-Grown Diamond Case

Steve Brachmann — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 17:15:40 +0000

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Ninth Circuit finds that a series of Doe plaintiffs did not succeed on the theory that GitHub’s AI-powered coding platform violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) under an output theory; U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director John Squires says that U.S. trademark filings have increased 11% compared to the first nine months of 2025; the Protect College Sports Act moves toward a vote on the U.S. Senate floor that will likely happen next week; and more.

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New Bill Would Overhaul Judicial Misconduct Proceedings in Light of Moore-Newman Battle

Eileen McDermott — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 17:01:58 +0000

Representative Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) has introduced a bill to amend the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act, inspired by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) Judge Pauline Newman’s fight to restore her status as an active judge, following a three-year suspension of her duties initiated by CAFC Chief Judge Kimberly Moore.

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Schedule A Litigation Is Not the Problem: Online Counterfeiting Is

Gene Quinn — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 16:15:07 +0000

Online counterfeiting has become ubiquitous. A seller located anywhere in the world can create a digital storefront, copy a brand owner's photographs and product descriptions, adopt a business name that reveals nothing, and begin selling into the United States before the brand owner even knows the account exists. If the seller is discovered and enforcement begins, the listing disappears, the money moves out of the country and beyond the practical reach of the court system, and a new account surfaces under a different name. Then the entire process repeats.

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Federal Circuit Vacates PTAB Rejection of Catheter Patent Application Over Incorrect Claim Construction

Rose Esfandiari — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 15:15:11 +0000

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a decision today in In re Incept LLC, vacating and remanding a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision that had affirmed an examiner’s rejection of a medical catheter patent application as obvious. Since the Board’s obviousness analysis relied on an incorrect construction of the claim term “flow barrier,” the CAFC declined to reach the underlying obviousness question and returned the case to the Board for further proceedings.

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In Memoriam: Dan Brown: Inventor, Entrepreneur, Patent Advocate

Bruce Berman — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:30:14 +0000

Inventors lost a champion this week. The sudden passing of Dan Brown, serial entrepreneur, 100+ patent holder, educator and policy activist, will leave a void. Dan was a vocal proponent of a fair intellectual property system, committed to building an equitable one for all inventors and creators.

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USPTO Pivot on PTAB Oversight Raises Questions About PTAB Control

Gene Quinn — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 19:15:17 +0000

Sources familiar with operations at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have told IPWatchdog that USPTO Director John Squires has informed the Administrative Patent Judges (APJs) on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that he will be relinquishing decision-making authority on which patent challenges to institute, returning the decision to the PTAB.

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Groups Slam Issa Bill to Expedite Site Blocking Orders

Eileen McDermott — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 17:16:46 +0000

Representative Darrell Issa introduced the American Copyright Protection Act (ACPA) on Monday, a bill aimed at creating an expedited judicial mechanism for copyright owners to obtain orders blocking access to certain foreign piracy sites. While the official text of the bill has not yet been published, several groups have responded based on their review of a draft of the bill that was circulated to stakeholders in May 2025.

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Songwriter Tells SCOTUS to Ignore Music Companies’ Bid to Retain Foreign Copyright in His Song

Eileen McDermott — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:15:19 +0000

A songwriter told the U.S. Supreme Court this week to reject an attempt by the four largest music companies in the world to reverse a Fifth Circuit ruling granting him all rights to the 1966 Swingin’ Medallions single, “Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love).” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion in January 2026 in Vetter v. Resnick, affirming the Middle District of Louisiana’s grant of summary judgment declaring that Cyril Vetter, co-author of “Double Shot,” and Vetter’s affiliated companies are the sole owners of the copyright to the song throughout the world.

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Can the Patent System Keep Pace with Life Sciences Innovation? | IPWatchdog Unleashed

Gene Quinn — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 21:30:21 +0000

This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed, I spoke with Steve Caltrider, Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and a former General Patent Counsel at Eli Lilly. The discussion also examined patent quality and the role of examination. Caltrider’s view is that the best time to establish confidence in a patent is when the USPTO examines it—not years later through PTAB review or district court litigation, after investment decisions have already been made. He recognized the need for an error-correction mechanism, while cautioning that review should not become so extensive or unpredictable that it undermines the value of issued patents.

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More Than 200 Companies Urge Federal Rules Committee to Require Disclosure of Litigation Funders

Rose Esfandiari — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 18:15:57 +0000

A coalition of 214 companies and organizations sent a letter on September 14 to Carolyn A. Dubay, Secretary of the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure at the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, urging the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) to require disclosure of nonparty litigation funders in federal civil litigation. Signatories included Amazon, Google, Microsoft, ExxonMobil, Meta, Ford, Anthropic, OpenAI, numerous insurers, pharmaceutical firms, and manufacturers.

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Federal Circuit Vacates Win for Patent Owner Due to Bad Claim Construction

Eileen McDermott — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:15:01 +0000

In a precedential decision issued Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) vacated a patent infringement judgment against Nine Energy Service Inc., holding that the Western District of Texas court incorrectly construed two terms of NCS Multistage’s patent and that an earlier sale relied upon by NCS did not qualify as a public disclosure under the America Invents Act (AIA).

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CAFC Reverses Dismissal of TexasLDPC’s Infringement Suit Against Broadcom

Rose Esfandiari — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 21:39:41 +0000

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a precedential decision today in TexasLDPC Inc. v. Broadcom Inc., reversing a district court’s dismissal of a patent and copyright infringement lawsuit brought by an exclusive licensee that had not joined the patent owner as a co-plaintiff. The court held that TexasLDPC Inc.’s license agreement with Texas A&M University (A&M) did not automatically terminate when TexasLDPC shifted its business to patent enforcement. The agreement conveyed “all substantial rights” in the asserted patents to TexasLDPC, making A&M “not otherwise a necessary party” under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19.

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