On July 13, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) held that a prior art reference does not inherently disclose the elements of a claim limitation if the prior art describes the performance of the elements but does not include a complete description of the elements, finding the patents of Endo Pharmaceuticals Solutions Inc. (“Endo”) not invalid for obviousness.

This is a follow-up on WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp., (respectively, “WesternGeco” and “ION”) from our article in the Winter 2018 newsletter.  On June 22, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States (“Supreme Court”) reversed the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In doing so, the Supreme Court held that a patent owner may recover lost foreign profits, under 35 U.S.C. § 284, for infringement under 35 U.S.C § 271(f)(2).

On May 15, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ("Federal Circuit") decided SAP America, Inc. v. InvestPic, LLC, holding advancements in abstract ideas, regardless of how innovative, are patent ineligible under 35 U.S.C §101 without plausibly alleged innovation in the non-abstract application realm.

On May 16, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ("Federal Circuit") affirmed in part, and reversed in part, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board's ("PTAB") application of the printed matter doctrine in the inter partes review ("IPR") of Praxair Distrib., Inc. v. Mallinckrodt Hosp. Prods. IP Ltd.