The Federal Circuit just “re-issued” its precedential decision in Great Concepts, LLC v. Chutter, Inc. (No. 2022-1212), where it had previously reversed the USPTO’s cancellation of a registered trademark. There was no substantive change in this modified version of the prior opinion where the majority held that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board lacked
Stephanie D. Scruggs
Stephanie Scruggs is an experienced intellectual property attorney primarily focused on complicated patent disputes. Stephanie defends and enforces the IP rights of both U.S. and foreign-based clients in a wide range of industries, including the chemical, biochemical, pharmaceutical, electrical and mechanical fields.
M.S., Chemical Engineering
Patent Registration Number: 54,432
Some Touch Up Needed: The Federal Circuit Partially Confirms the PTAB’s View of Analogous Art
In Corephotonics, Ltd. v. Apple Inc., the Federal Circuit partially signed off on Apple’s win before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) invalidating a number of patents owned by Corephotonics relating to dual-aperture cameras and methods of using the images from both lenses when zooming while capturing video to prevent “jumping” (U.S. Patent…
Cancellation of a Registered Mark Based on Fraud in Section 15 Affidavit Not Allowed
On Wednesday, a divided panel of the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision reversing the USPTO’s cancellation of a registered trademark (Great Concepts, LLC v. Chutter, Inc., No. 2022-1212). As detailed in the opinion, the majority held that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board lacked the power to cancel a trademark registration based on…
More Antibody Claims Falling Under Post-Amgen Scrutiny
With only two precedential IP decisions coming down from the Federal Circuit in the second half of September, pickings were a little slim for blogging. That said, the opinion in Baxalta v. Genentech (2022-1461) — drafted by Chief Judge Kimberly Moore and joined by Judges Raymond Clevenger and Raymond Chen — is an…
Blue Gentian’s Efforts to Maintain Sole Inventorship Were Hosed by the Federal Circuit
Last week, the Federal Circuit issued another precedential decision on inventorship. However, unlike in HIP, Inc. v. Hormel Foods Corporation (22-1696) where the appellate panel found the purported inventor’s contribution to be “insignificant in quality . . . [when] measured against dimension of the full invention,” the panel in Blue Gentian, LLC v. Tristar Products, …
Boring Down on Unexceptional Arguments for Exceptionality
Last week, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision affirming a Southern District of Texas denial of FMC Technologies, Inc.’s attorneys’ fees motion. The panel here (comprised of Moore, Clevenger, and Dyk) seems almost as disdainful of FMC’s arguments for exceptionality as a completely different panel did when it affirmed the denial of Pure Hemp’s…
Supreme Court Delivers the Final Blow to Amgen
The questions from the high court during oral argument at the end of March 2023 were fairly telling of the 9-0 ruling that came down yesterday in Amgen, Inc. v. Sanofi (No. 21-757). In fact, it did not come as much of a surprise when the Supreme Court left intact the lower courts’ invalidity ruling…
Not So Exceptional: What Does It Take to Reach the High Bar for Attorney Fees?
The Federal Circuit passed on Pure Hemp’s ask for attorney fees and sanctions in United Cannabis, Corp. v. Pure Hemp Collective Inc., No. 22-1363 (Fed. Cir. May 8, 2023). Agreeing with the district court, the appellate panel found Pure Hemp’s exceptionality arguments lacking (even referring to Pure Hemp’s appeal as “extremely weak”) and…
Bacon and a Heavy Burden: Significant Contribution Required To Be a Joint Inventor
Efforts by HIP, Inc. to have David Howard added as an inventor to Hormel’s U.S. Patent No. 9,980,498 (Bacon Patent) were recently scorched by the Federal Circuit. More specifically, in HIP, Inc. v. Hormel Foods Corporation (22-1696), a unanimous panel reversed the District of Delaware’s finding that Howard was a joint inventor of the…
Recharged and Ready to Go?
Phillip Morris can’t seem to catch its breath. As discussed in a previous post, just a few weeks ago the Federal Circuit upheld the ITC’s ban on the importation and sale of Phillip Morris’s line of heated tobacco and electronic cigarette products offered under the brand IQOS. Phillip Morris now has to recharge its…
Federal Circuit Vaporizes Phillip Morris’s Obviousness Challenge in “a Close One”
In a recent precedential decision, the Federal Circuit shot down arguments from appellants Phillip Morris Products S.A., Phillip Morris USA, Inc. and Altria Client Services LLC (Phillip Morris) that challenged the ban on its imported electronic cigarettes handed down from the International Trade Commission (ITC).
The fight between the tobacco competitors started around this…