Utility Patent

District Courts, Utility Patent

Headwater Research v. Verizon — Judge Gilstrap Wipes Out $175M Patent Verdict With Implied Waiver

Judge Gilstrap finds that Headwater Research LLC — which knew of Verizon’s patent infringement in 2017 but waited six years to file suit in order to maximize its damages window — engaged in conduct so inconsistent with an intent to enforce its rights that equity bars enforcement entirely, wiping out a $175 million jury verdict. The court holds that implied waiver survives the Supreme Court’s SCA Hygiene decision, which abolished laches, because waiver goes to liability rather than damages.

Federal Circuit, Utility Patent

VLSI Technology v. Intel — Federal Circuit Revives Multi-Core Patent Infringement Claims, Reverses Summary Judgment on Extraterritoriality and Prosecution Disclaimer

The Federal Circuit reversed summary judgment of noninfringement of a multi-core processor patent, holding that a pretrial stipulation establishing a 70% U.S. nexus applied to infringement — not just damages — and that prosecution history did not clearly disclaim the broader scope of apparatus claims.

Federal Circuit, Utility Patent

Definitive Holdings v. PowerTEQ — Federal Circuit Affirms Engine Tuning Patent Invalidity Under On-Sale Bar

The Federal Circuit affirmed that U.S. Patent No. 8,458,689 — covering methods and apparatus for reprogramming automotive engine controllers — was invalid under the pre-AIA on-sale bar, holding that source code commands are not hearsay and that selling a device embodying a patented method triggers the bar even if the device’s inner workings were not publicly disclosed.

District Courts, Utility Patent

Valve v. Rothschild — First-Ever Jury Verdict Under a State Anti-Patent-Troll Law

A federal jury in Seattle returned a $152,093 verdict for Valve and against inventor Leigh Rothschild and his patent-licensing entities — finding violations of the Washington Patent Troll Prevention Act, the Washington Consumer Protection Act, and a 2016 patent licensing settlement. It is, according to the IP bar, the first jury verdict under a state anti-troll statute.

UK Courts, Utility Patent

Emotional Perception AI v. Comptroller General — UK Supreme Court Abandons 20-Year Aerotel Test, Opens Door to AI Patents

The UK Supreme Court unanimously overturned the Court of Appeal and held that an artificial neural network for recommending media files based on emotional characteristics is patentable, abandoning the Aerotel four-step test in favor of the EPO’s broader COMVIK approach — the most significant shift in UK computer-patent law in two decades.

District Courts, Utility Patent

Ridge Wallet v. Bemmo — Court Denies Dismissal of Patent and Trade Dress Claims Over Compact Wallet Design

An Eastern District of New York judge denied Bemmo’s motion to dismiss Ridge Wallet’s patent infringement and trade dress claims, holding that claim construction disputes are premature at the pleading stage and that Ridge Wallet adequately alleged secondary meaning and non-functionality of its distinctive ‘Forged Ember’ design.

EU Courts, Utility Patent

UPC Court of Appeal — Amgen v. Sanofi & Regeneron (UPC_CoA_528/2024) — Sets Out the UPC’s Inventive-Step Framework: Realistic Starting Point, Objective Problem, “Would Not Could”

In a same-day companion ruling to Meril v. Edwards, the UPC Court of Appeal articulated a comprehensive inventive-step framework: identify the objective problem from the perspective of the skilled person, choose a realistic starting point in the prior art, and assess whether the skilled person ‘would’ (not merely ‘could’) have arrived at the claimed solution. The decision also clarifies medical-use claim format, sufficiency, added matter, and burden of proof.

EU Courts, Utility Patent

Meril v. Edwards Lifesciences (UPC_CoA_464/2024 et al., EP 3 646 825) — UPC Court of Appeal Same-Day Companion to Amgen v. Sanofi: “Same Parties” Test, Embodiment Coverage, and Non-Obvious-Alternative Inventive Step

Same-day companion to Amgen v. Sanofi/Regeneron, the UPC Court of Appeal in Meril v. Edwards held that the ‘same parties’ test under Art. 33(4) UPCA looks to identity of interests; that disclosed embodiments are generally covered by the patent claims unless the specification clearly teaches otherwise; and importantly that an inventive step may be found even where the claimed solution is merely a ‘non-obvious alternative’ to known prior-art solutions.

EU Courts, Utility Patent

UPC Court of Appeal — Boehringer Ingelheim v. Zentiva (UPC_CoA_446/2025) — Marketing Authorisation Alone Does Not Imminent-Infringe, But Completion of National Pricing & Reimbursement Procedures Can

The UPC Court of Appeal set out a workable test for when a generic pharmaceutical’s pre-launch activity creates an imminent threat of infringement supporting provisional measures: a bare marketing authorisation does not, but completion of national health-technology-assessment, pricing, and reimbursement procedures can — depending on the regulatory and commercial context.

Other International (Japan), Utility Patent

Japan IP High Court 令和3年(ネ)第10037号 (Remitch / 止痒剤) — Extended Pharmaceutical Use Patent Reaches Generic with Same Active Ingredient and Therapeutic Equivalence; ¥21.7 Billion Damages Award Affirmed

The Japan Intellectual Property High Court reversed the Tokyo District Court and held that a generic narlfrafen hydrochloride (nalfurafine) anti-itch product infringes Toray’s term-extended pharmaceutical use patent on Remitch, awarding the patentee approximately ¥21.7 billion (~US$140 million) in damages. The decision expansively defines the scope of extended Japanese pharmaceutical patents — covering generics with substantively identical active ingredient, dosage, usage, and indication, not merely formally identical products.

Other International (Korea), Utility Patent

Korea Supreme Court 2025다202970 — Territoriality Defeats Indirect-Infringement Claim Against Korean Manufacturer of 13-Valent Pneumococcal Vaccine Components Exported for Foreign Assembly

Korea’s Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of indirect patent-infringement claims against a domestic manufacturer that produced 13 individual conjugate substrates in Korea but exported them for final mixing into a 13-valent pneumococcal vaccine abroad, holding that under the territoriality principle of Korean Patent Act § 127(1), “production” must occur within Korean territory and a foreign-completed final assembly does not trigger Korean indirect-infringement liability.

EU Courts, Utility Patent

UPC Local Division Düsseldorf — Sanofi & Regeneron v. Amgen (UPC_CFI_505/2024) — Framework for Infringement of Second Medical-Use Claims and Rejection of “Pleading Ignorance”

The UPC Düsseldorf Local Division articulated the substantive framework for second medical-use claim infringement: the alleged infringer must offer or place the medicinal product on the market in a way that leads or may lead to the claimed therapeutic use, with knowledge or constructive knowledge that it does. Procedurally, the panel rejected “pleading ignorance” as a recognized form of defense, holding that the UPC Rules of Procedure do not acknowledge that pleading style.

Other International (China), Utility Patent

Supreme People’s Court of China — Chengdu Chip Co. v. Mao Tech (2023) 最高法知民终2903号 — Power-Management Chip Patent Infringement Reversed; SPC Tightens Doctrine of Equivalents for Logic-Circuit Patents

The Supreme People’s Court IP Tribunal reversed a first-instance finding of patent infringement in a power-management chip dispute, holding that pulse-signal generation circuit features in the accused chip differed from the patented features in means, function, and effect — and therefore neither identically infringed nor were equivalent. The decision is the SPC’s most prominent 2025 elaboration of the doctrine of equivalents in logic-circuit patents.

EU Courts, Utility Patent

BSH Hausgeräte v. Electrolux (C-339/22) — CJEU Grand Chamber Holds EU Member-State Courts Have Cross-Border Jurisdiction Over European Patent Infringement Outside Their Forum, Even When Validity Defenses Are Raised

The CJEU Grand Chamber held that Article 4(1) of Regulation 1215/2012 entitles a court of a defendant’s domicile member state to hear infringement claims regarding a European patent’s national parts validated in other member states (and even in non-EU states), notwithstanding invalidity defenses raised under Article 24(4). The decision dramatically expands cross-border patent litigation in the EU and is the doctrinal foundation for the UPC’s long-arm jurisdiction over non-UPC-state patent rights.

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