Tag: CAFC
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In re Bayou Grande Coffee Roasting Co.: When a Beverage Name Is Neither Generic Nor Descriptive
On December 9, 2025, the Federal Circuit issued a sharp rebuke to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s refusal to register the mark KAHWA for café and coffee shop services. In In re Bayou Grande Coffee Roasting Co., No. 2024-1118 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 9, 2025), the court reversed the Board’s findings of genericness and mere…
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IBM v. Zillow: Prior Art Must Disclose What the Patent Claim Actually Requires
On December 9, 2025, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision in International Business Machines Corp. v. Zillow Group, Inc., affirming a split Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that invalidated some claims of IBM’s single sign-on patent while preserving others. The opinion offers a careful, almost tutorial-like, explanation of how far the Board may…
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Coda Development v. Goodyear: Federal Circuit Wipes Out $64M Trade Secret Verdict
On December 8, 2025, the Federal Circuit affirmed the Northern District of Ohio’s judgment as a matter of law wiping out a $64 million jury verdict in Coda Development s.r.o. v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., No. 23-1880 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 8, 2025). The court concluded that no reasonable jury could have found Goodyear liable…
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Adnexus v. Meta: Federal Circuit Rejects Premature Claim Construction at Pleading Stage
On December 5, 2025, the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the dismissal of Adnexus Inc.’s v. Meta Platforms, Inc., holding that the district court prematurely resolved a claim construction dispute under the guise of Rule 12(b)(6) plausibility. The decision is a pointed reminder that, while courts retain flexibility at the pleadings stage, they may not…
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Seagen v. Daiichi Sankyo: Federal Circuit Reverses $41M Verdict on Written Description
The Federal Circuit’s December 2, 2025 decision in Seagen Inc. v. Daiichi Sankyo Co., No. 23-2424, continues a noticeable and consequential trend: the court’s growing willingness to overturn jury verdicts on written description and enablement grounds as a matter of law. In reversing a $41 million verdict and vacating findings of willful infringement, the panel…
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In re Gesture Technology: IPR Estoppel Stops at the PTAB Door, Not Ex Parte Reexamination
The Federal Circuit’s December 1, 2025 decision in In re Gesture Technology Partners, LLC, Appeal No. 2025-1075, delivers a clean and consequential message on two recurring pressure points in post-grant practice: the reach of inter partes review (IPR) estoppel under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(1), and the Patent Office’s authority to continue adjudicating validity in ex…
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Akamai v. MediaPointe: “Best” and “Optimal” Still Demand Objective Boundaries
The Federal Circuit’s decision in Akamai Technologies, Inc. v. MediaPointe, Inc., No. 2024-1571 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 25, 2025), reinforces a familiar but still unforgiving rule of patent law: terms of degree such as “best” and “optimal” require objective boundaries anchored in the intrinsic record, not intuition, common sense, or counsel’s assurances that “it all tends…
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EscapeX IP v. Google: Frivolous Litigation, Fee Shifting, and the Perils of Doubling Down
On November 25, 2025, the Federal Circuit issued a sharp reminder that patent litigation is not a game of attrition and that courts will use fee shifting and sanctions to deter claims that lack a meaningful factual or legal foundation. In EscapeX IP, LLC v. Google LLC, the court affirmed a district court’s award of…
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Duke v. Sandoz: Federal Circuit Invalidates Genus Claim for Lack of Written Description
On November 18, 2025, the Federal Circuit issued a significant written description decision in Duke University v. Sandoz Inc., reversing a jury verdict and holding claim 30 of U.S. Patent No. 9,579,270 invalid for lack of adequate written description. The opinion is a textbook application of the court’s “blaze marks” jurisprudence and a reminder that…
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Smartrend v. Opti-Luxx: When Claim Construction Undoes Patent Infringement Verdicts
The Federal Circuit’s decision in Smartrend Manufacturing Group (SMG), Inc. v. Opti-Luxx Inc., Nos. 2024-1616, 2024-1650 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 13, 2025), offers a layered and instructive treatment of two recurring fault lines in patent litigation: claim construction in design patents and the limits of the doctrine of equivalents in utility patents. In a single opinion,…