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KNOWLES ELECTRONICS LLC v. ANDREI IANCU, 16-1954, decided April 6, 2018

U.S. Patent No. 8,018,049, directed to a silicon condenser microphone creatable as a panel with later separation.  “Package” of the claims is argued to include a mounting mechanism based on an unrelated Fed. Cir. decision interpreting silicon related “package” for a different patent (pages 8-9).  According to the Fed. Cir., the claims themselves do not […]

IN RE: BRANDT, 16-2601, decided March 27, 2018

U.S. Application No. 13/652,858, directed to high density polyurethane construction boards. “Said coverboard having a density greater than 2.5 pounds per cubic foot and less than 6 pounds per cubic foot” is in claim 1 (page 3).  Prior art G has a coverboard of 6-25 pounds per cubic foot, preferably 8 (pages 3-4).  Prior art […]

DSS TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT, INC. v. APPLE INC., 16-2523, 16-2524, decided March 23, 2018

U.S. Patent No. 6, 128,290, directed to wireless for single hose and multiple peripherals. In “low duty cycle pulsed mode of operation,” each peripheral and the base station are allocated a subset of time slots for communications, allowing power down at other times (page 3).  The transmitters are “energized in low duty cycle RF bursts” […]

IN RE: POWER INTEGRATIONS, INC., 17-1304, decided March 19, 2018

U.S. Patent No. 6,249,876, directed to EMI reduction by jittering switch frequency. The claims recite a digital-to-analog converter “coupled” to a counter for the counter to cause the converter to adjust (pages 2-3).  A court, in a previous decision, indicated that prior art with an EPROM in between the converter and the counter did not […]

HOLOGIC, INC. v. SMITH & NEPHEW, INC., 17-1389, decided March 14, 2018

U.S. Patent No. 8,061,359, directed to an endoscope to remove uterine tissue. The patent claims priority to a PCT application with a nearly identical specification and same inventor (page 2).  The claim recites a “first channel having a light guide permanently affixed therein” (page 2).  To deal with an Examiner objection about the drawings not […]

SIMPLEAIR, INC. v GOOGLE LLC, 16-2738, decided March 12, 2018

U.S. Patent No. 8,639,838, directed to messaging.  The district court indicated that filing a terminal disclaimer resulted in claim preclusion, relying on non-infringement of the parent patent with the understanding that the terminal disclaimer indicated that the continuation patent was to the same dispute.  According to the Federal Circuit, “a terminal disclaimer is a strong […]

STEUBEN FOODS, INC. v. NESTLE USA, INC., 17-1290, decided March 13, 2018

U.S. Patent No. 6,475,435, directed to an over-pressurized sterilization tunnel for food packaging.  “Sterilant concentration levels” of the claim is at any point in the tunnel rather than just in the volume of pressurized gas (pages 4-5).  The specification mentions levels of gas and residual concentration on lids of bottles (page 5).  There is nothing […]

POLARIS INDUSTRIES, INV. v. ARTIC CAT, INC., 16-1807, 16-2280, decided February 9, 2018

U.S. Patent No. 8,596,405, directed to side-by-side seating in an ATV. (1) “A protective panel positioned between the pair of laterally spaced-apart seating surfaces and the engine” does not require a panel for both seats (pages 12-13).  The specification and claims are directed to positioning between the passenger compartment and engine, not to protect both […]

KNOWLES ELECS. LLC v. CIRRUS LOGIC, INC, 16-2010, decided March 1, 2018

U.S. Patent No. 6,781,231, directed to MEMS with a shielded microphone. The reexamination proposed claim requires a MEMS package where the solder pads are “configured to mechanically attach and electrically connect the package to a surface of an external printed circuit board using solder reflow process” (page 12).  The specification teaches solder pads for electrical […]