CAFC Patent Cases, 1/12/21 – 2/2/21
- Arthur Coviello, Omar Khan, William McElwain
- 2.2.2021
Precedential Federal Circuit Opinions
- M & K HOLDINGS, INC. v. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. [OPINION] (2020-1160, 2/1/2021) (Moore, Bryson, Chen)
Bryson, J. Affirming PTAB decision that references qualified as prior art. Also vacating decision that claim was unpatentable and remanding. Substantial evidence supported the Board’s conclusion that the relevant references could have been located through reasonable diligence, given that the references were publicly accessible through the combination of oral presentations at the meetings of an industry task force and the hosting of documents on the website of the task force. Regarding unpatentability, the Board erred by finding challenged claim anticipated when the petition asserted only obviousness. “Although [patent owner] was aware of the prior art used to invalidate [the claim] given the obviousness combination asserted against that claim, [patent owner] was not put on notice that the Board might find that [the reference] disclosed all of the limitations [and might invalidate] based on anticipation.”
