Intellectual Property Protection, Functionality, Patent Infringement

The Precedent: Federal Circuit Clarifies Functionality Doctrine in CeramTec v. CoorsTek

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP on 1/31/2025

In this edition of The Precedent, we outline the recent federal circuit decision in CeramTec v. CoorsTek. ...more

Fact or fiction? Debunking patent myths for business and technology leaders.

Smart & Biggar on 8/27/2021

There are many misconceptions or ‘myths’ about patents that have found their way into popular discourse, ranging from what type of innovations are patentable, to how important it is to own and protect your intellectual...more

Tips for Reviewing (or Drafting) Patent Claims

Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, P.C. on 12/7/2020

For emerging companies, a patent application should combine legal skill with technical and business knowledge to produce a document that will serve as a foundation to the company’s valuation and future profitability....more

The Seventh Circuit Addresses the Use of Utility Patents as Evidence of Functionality of Trade Dress

Vedder Price on 7/29/2019

On June 12, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided Bodum USA, Inc. v. A Top New Casting Inc., No. 18-3030, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 17555 (7th Cir. June 12, 2019). The case, led by Vedder Price...more

Federal Circuit Denies SHzoom's Bid to Make Trading Technologies Decision Precedential, But the Case is Still Good Law

Fenwick & West LLP on 4/17/2017

On Wednesday, the Federal Circuit, in a per curiam order, denied SHzoom's motion to make the Trading Technologies opinion precedential. The order of course gave no reasons for the decision. Nonetheless, the underlying...more

Drawing a Line in the Floor—Courts Are Struggling With the Overlap Between Design Patent and Copyright

BakerHostetler on 10/13/2015

In 2003 the U.S. Supreme Court in Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. emphasized that “[t]he rights of a patentee or copyright holder are part of a ‘carefully crafted bargain,’… under which, once the patent or...more

Comparison of Design Patent and Trade Dress Protection in Light of the Federal Circuit’s Decision in Apple v. Samsung

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP on 9/11/2015

In a decision authored by Chief Judge Sharon Prost, the Federal Circuit held that while design patents covering product configurations – that is, “a product feature or a combination or arrangement of features” – can protect...more

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