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Jul 1, 2020
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Fresh From the Bench: Latest Federal Circuit Court Cases

CASE OF THE WEEK

adidas AG v. Nike, Inc., Appeal Nos. 2019-1787, -1788 (Fed. Cir. June 25, 2020)

This week’s case of the week deals with issues relating to obviousness and standing in a consolidated appeal of two final written decisions issued in inter partes review (“IPR”) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”). The IPRs were brought by adidas, challenging two Nike patents directed to methods of manufacturing an article of footwear with a textile upper, both of which cover Nike’s Flyknit products. The PTAB held that adidas did not demonstrate the challenged claims were unpatentable as obvious, and adidas appealed. On appeal, the Federal Circuit found that adidas has standing and affirmed the PTAB’s decisions that adidas had failed to meet its burden of proof on obviousness.

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ALSO THIS WEEK

Shoes By Firebug LLC v. Stride Rite Children’s Group, LLC, Appeal Nos. 2019-1622, -1623 (Fed. Cir. June 25, 2020)

In an appeal from an inter partes review, the Court affirmed the PTAB’s decision that the challenged claims were unpatentable as obvious. Appellant Firebug argued the PTAB erred in finding that the preamble of claim 1 of each of the patents at issue did not limit the challenged claims. The Court agreed with Firebug on this point. However, the Court went on to find that the PTAB’s finding of obviousness was supported by substantial evidence because the prior art references, when combined, disclosed the challenged claims and such combination would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, the Court held the PTAB’s error regarding the preamble was harmless because its “ultimate conclusion of obviousness [was] correct under the proper claim construction.”

The opinion can be found here.

B/E Aerospace, Inc. v. C&D Zodiac, Inc., Appeal Nos. 2019-1935, -1936 (Fed. Cir. June 26, 2020)

Patent owner B/E Aerospace appealed final written decisions of the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (“the Board”) in inter partes reviews in which the Board found invalid as obvious claims of two patents directed to space savings technologies for airplane lavatories. The Federal Circuit affirmed the Board’s obviousness ruling, finding the admitted prior art coupled with a common sense solution to a known problem sufficient to render the patent claims obvious. The Federal Circuit agreed with the Board that the technology at issue was “simple” and found the Board’s application of the common sense rationale adequately supported by reasoned analysis and evidence under its seminal KSR decision. The Federal Circuit found it unnecessary to reach the patent owner’s separate challenge that certain design drawings applied by the Board failed to qualify as prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 311(b).

The opinion can be found here.

Written by: Scott D. Eads and Nika Aldrich, Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt

Contributors: Erin Forbes and Bazsi Takacs