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Federal Circuit Decides Festo on Remand from the Supreme Court ( January 2004 )
On September 26, 2003, the Federal Circuit decided <i>Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co., Ltd.</i>, 344 F.3d 1359 (Fed. Cir. 2003), which was on remand from the Supreme Court. The Federal Circuit's decision appears to be directed towards a very limited exception to the total surrender presumption, and the minority opinions illustrate that there is tension within the Federal Circuit regarding the approach to barring equivalents. -
Patent Foreseeability in the Wake of Festo ( October 2003 )
On remand from the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently revisited the issue as to whether prosecution history estoppel barred a patent owner from relying on the doctrine of equivalents in a patent infringement suit. In this highly anticipated decision, <i>Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co., Ltd.</i>, the court concluded that the doctrine of equivalents might still be available to the patentee and remanded the case to the district court to make the determination. In reaching this conclusion, the Federal Circuit addressed whether any of three mechanisms for rebutting the presumption that prosecution history estoppel applies were available to the plaintiff and determined that one of them – unforeseeability – might be. -
The U.S. Supreme Court Vacates Festo Reaffirming the Importance of Equitable Patent Protection ( November 2002 )
Contrary to rampant speculation in the legal community that the doctrine of equivalents for patent claims was dead or nearly so, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reasserted the legal vitality of equitable patent rights in the case of Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co.. The Court vacated the judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 28, 2002. -
U.S. Supreme Court Vacates the Festo Decision ( May 2002 )
The Supreme Court found that the Federal Circuit correctly held that a narrowing amendment made to satisfy any requirement of the Patent Act may give rise to an estoppel, but that the Federal Circuit went too far when it created a per se rule, rather than only a presumption, that any such estoppel barred the application of equivalents to the narrowed element. -
Choose Your Words Carefully--Positions Taken When Applying for a Patent May Limit Your Future Patent Protection ( June 1998 )
This article discusses the case of Litton Systems, Inc. v. Honeywell, Inc. as it pertains to the guidelines which companies should consider when evaluating the question of whether, and to what extent, the doctrine of prosecution history estoppel may prevent a patentee from asserting infringement under the doctrine of equivalents. -
How to Decide Whether Prosecution History Estoppel Limits the Doctrine of Equivalents ( November 1998 )
This article discusses the Bai v. L & L Wings, Inc. case as it pertains to the guidelines which should now be considered when evaluating the question of whether, and to what extent, the doctrine of prosecution history estoppel may prevent a patentee from asserting infringement under the doctrine of equivalents.
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