Insights
Publications

Claim Construction: How Should the Supreme Court Weigh In?

6/27/2014 Articles

Claim construction is a fundamental aspect of every patent case, and is often the determining factor in whether a patent holder wins or loses in litigation. Claim construction has, however, become an area of tremendous uncertainty, requiring significant resources of both the courts and the parties. Under current Federal Circuit law which does not afford any deference to the lower courts, this uncertainty extends even after a District Court has issued its claim construction order.

Given the high reversal rate in the Federal Circuit, there has been a call for many years to afford District Courts more deference in their claim construction determinations. Is the Supreme Court finally set to weigh in on this critical issue? In Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Sandoz Inc, the Supreme Court recently granted certiorari to address the issue of whether a District Court’s factual findings in support of its claim construction may be reviewed de novo, as the Federal Circuit has held, or only for clear error, as Rule 52(a) requires.

At the June IP Roundtable, Jeff Fisher and Alex Reese led an interactive discussion on this issue which may lead to a new era of construction of patent claims. Read their outline here.

Resources

Firm Highlights

News

Farella Braun + Martel Announces 2023 New Partner Class

Read More
News

PNC Scores a Win in Battle With USAA Over Mobile Check Deposit Patents

Eugene Mar, intellectual property litigation partner and chair of the Technology Industry Group, spoke to American Banker for the article "PNC Scores a Win in Battle With USAA Over Mobile Check Deposit Patents." "My...

Read More
News

Jim Day Named Among Daily Journal’s Top IP Lawyers in California

James Day Headshot
Read More
Publication

Failures Are Valuable IP: Protect Your Startup’s Negative Trade Secrets

Technology companies and start-ups are familiar with protecting inventions with patents, and protecting their secret formulas, source code, and algorithms as trade secrets. But tech companies may not be aware of another powerful form of...

Read More
News

Farella Names Carolina de Armas and Hilary Krase As Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Pathfinders

Carolina de Armas and Hilary Krase
Read More
Publication

Under FTC’s New Proposed Rule, Employers Will No Longer Be Able to Rely on Noncompete Agreements

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed a rule that would prohibit the use of noncompete agreements in employment contracts. Noncompete agreements prevent employees and independent contractors from pursuing certain forms of employment &ndash...

Read More
Publication

Highlights from 2022 Unified Patents Corporate IP Strategy Conference

Recently, several Farella lawyers attended the 2022 Corporate IP Strategy Conference, co-hosted by the Santa Clara University High Tech Law Journal and Unified Patents. Eugene Mar, Erik Olson, Dan Callaway, and Tom Pardini enjoyed...

Read More
Publication

How Companies Can Stop Trade Secret Disclosure in California

When an executive, founder, or employee with access to trade secrets or confidential information leaves a company to work elsewhere, employer trade secrets might be used by a competitor. Under two laws, California’s Uniform...

Read More
Publication

What Recent Rulings in 'hiQ v. LinkedIn' and Other Cases Say About the Legality of Data Scraping

LinkedIn obtained a permanent injunction on Dec. 6 in its six-year-old lawsuit against data scraping company hiQ Labs, which LinkedIn quickly cheered as a “final, decisive victory” that established an “important legal precedent.” While...

Read More
Publication

How To Avoid Allegations of Trade Secret Misappropriation in California

When departing a company, an executive, founder, or employee with access to trade secrets or confidential information may face legal allegations around whether they will use or disclose their former employer’s trade secrets at...

Read More