Dennis Crouch's Patently-O: 1 new topics, including “Supreme Court to hear cases on Federal Circuit’s Rigid Limits on Treble Damages”

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Supreme Court to hear cases on Federal Circuit’s Rigid Limits on Treble Damages Posted: 19 Oct 2015 08:16 AM PDT The Supreme Court has now granted certiorari in two enhanced fee award patent cases: Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc., S.Ct. No. 14-1513 and Stryker Corp. v. Zimmer, Inc., No. 14-1520. The court linked the two together and will hold one big oral arguments (one hour) focusing on whether the Federal Circuit’s rigid test limiting enhanced patent damages is appropriate — especially following the Supreme Court’s decision in Octane Fitness where the Supreme Court rejected a parallel rigid test in the fee-shifting situation. Those familiar with treble-damages know that the Federal Circuit has created a complex and rigid test for determining whether such awards may be granted.  The statute though is simple and only states that “the court may increase the damages up to three times the amount found or assessed.” 35 U.S.C. 284. In this case, the Supreme Court is very likely to require flexibility – what is unclear is what level of flexibility will be allowed. For instance, will enhanced damages continue to be limited to willful infringement? = = = = = Questions presented (both of these appear to be in close parallel): Halo: Whether the Federal Circuit erred by applying a rigid, two-part test for enhancing patent infringement damages under 35 U.S.C. § 284, that is the same as the rigid, two-part test this Court rejected last term in Octane Fitness, LLC v. ICON Health & Fitness, Inc. for imposing attorney fees under the similarly-worded 35 U.S.C. § 285. Stryker: Whether the Federal Circuit improperly abrogated the plain meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 284 by forbidding any award of enhanced damages unless there is a finding of willfulness under a rigid, two-part test, when this Court recently rejected an analogous framework imposed on 35 U.S.C. § 285, the statute providing for attorneys’ fee awards in exceptional cases.

Federal Circuit: Prior Art Enabled by Applicant Admissions in his Patent Application Posted: 19 Oct 2015 08:02 AM PDT by Dennis Crouch In re Steve Morsa (Fed. Cir. 2015) (Morsa II) This is the return-appeal, a divided panel has now agreed with the patent office that its cited prior art is sufficiently enabling to serve as an anticipating reference. In its 2013 Morsa decision (Morsa I) involving the same issues, the Federal Circuit ruled the PTO had applied the incorrect prior-art-enablement procedure and remanded.  The disclosure in question is a short press-release from Peter Martin Associates that announces a product known as “HelpWorks” that allows folks to “use the Web to screen themselves for benefits, services, health risks, or anything else an agency wishes to implement via its eligibility library.”  Morsa’s claim in question – Claim Number 271 – is directed toward a “benefit information match mechanism” that requires (1) storing benefit registrations; (2) receiving a benefit request; (3) determining whether the request matches a registration; and (4) providing a benefit results — all “at least in part via a computer compatible network.” Enabling Prior Art: A prior art reference being used for anticipation must be enabling.  To be anticipating, the prior art must “teach a skilled artisan … to make or carry out what it discloses in relation to the claimed invention without undue experimentation.”  However, during patent prosecution prior art cited by the USPTO is presumed to be enabling unless that issue is directly challenged by the patent applicant.  In Morsa I, the Federal Circuit ruled that an applicant’s direct challenge shift’s the burden to the PTO if it is a “non-frivolous argument that cited prior art is not enabling.” While an applicant must generally do more than state an unsupported belief that a reference is not enabling, and may proffer affidavits or declarations in support of his position, we see no reason to require such submissions in all cases. When a reference appears to not be enabling on its face, a challenge may be lodged without resort to expert assistance. Here, Morsa identified specific, concrete reasons why he believed the short press release at issue was not enabling, and the Board and the examiner failed to address these arguments. On remand following Morsa I, the PTO particularly addressed Morsa’s enablement argument and ruled that the anticipating reference was enabled — finding that the reference taught everything that person with ordinary computing kills needed to know in order to make and use Morsa’s claimed invention.  Now on appeal, the Federal Circuit has affirmed. In the process, the court made a set of important findings. First, the starting point of this analysis is the level of knowledge of a skilled artisan as of Morsa’s critical date — and the question is whether the prior art reference enables that skilled artisan to create Morsa’s invention.  Building upon this starting point, the court included a number of admissions from Morsa’s application. In particular, Morsa had indicated in his background section that several different aspects of the invention (processors, memory, search routines, etc.) were  “within the knowledge of those of ordinary skill in the art.”  The court next focused a bit on Morsa’s claimed invention — finding that in includes only four basic claim limitations and that “each of those limitations can be mapped directly onto the [prior art] reference.” Writing in dissent, Judge Newman offers the following: The Board recognized that some of the claim steps are not described in the press release. The Board solved this dilemma by taking what it called "Official Notice" of the missing subject matter. And my colleagues solve this dilemma by finding the missing subject matter in the Morsa specification by stating that since the specification states that a person skilled in the art would know how to "implement" the claimed system, that person would have "knowledge" to fill the gaps in the prior art. However, we are directed to no disclosure in the prior art of all the claim elements and steps. "Anticipation" is not established in accordance with law. "Official Notice" is not anticipation. . . The applicant's specification is not prior art . . . [Rather] Enablement of the prior art must come from prior art. = = = = = I have pasted below the entirety of the 1999 press release being used as prior art. CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sept. 28, 1999– Peter Martin Associates is moving eligibility screening one step closer to public availability with the announcement that its expert screening solution, HelpWorks(TM) is now Web enabled. The launch of HelpWorks Web Edition(TM) took place today at the APHSA-ISM (American Public Human Services Association – Information Systems Management Conference) in Columbus, Ohio. The talk at the conference was the Government’s migration to e-commerce empowering the public to avoid long lines and seemingly endless forms to secure government services. HelpWorks(TM) is a state-of-the-art software program designed to help maximize the benefits and services that consumers receive from Government agencies. It can be configured to evaluate any or all benefits and programs required – Federal, State and/or local. HelpWorks Web Edition(TM) supports both a professionally-directed deployment model – in which end users are professional caseworkers – or as stated above, a self-service model in which consumers use the Web to screen themselves for benefits, services, health risks, or anything else an agency wishes to implement via its eligibility library. The power behind this unprecedented flexibility in application and access is PMA’s newly released Expert Eligibility Server(TM) (EES) technology. The EES engine allows an agency to utilize HelpWorks Web Edition(TM) as well as other applications that will leverage this dynamic technology. With EES as the backbone, agencies can rapidly deploy eligibility solutions for touch-screen kiosks, interactive voice response systems, the Web and many other platforms. Peter Martin Associates is the premier provider of software designed to support public and private social service agencies, focusing on family centered case management, information and referral, and eligibility screening. Information about Peter Martin Associates may be found on the web at www.petermartin.com.

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