I will periodically post case citations from the Federal Circuit along with the date of the opinion/order and a brief list of the legal topics discussed therein (specifically those with additional embedded case law citations). This posting covers the sixty-sixth through the seventieth cases that were appealed from the district court level and decided by the Federal Circuit in 2006. All opinions are precedential unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Cardiovascular Systems v. Medtronic Vascular (05/26/2006, non-precedential): claim construction and appellate standard of review, statement of disavowal during prosecution narrowing claim interpretation, scope of surrender of subject matter during prosecution, consistent claim construction across related claims, prosecution history estoppel based on disavowal

Lawman Armor Corp. v. Winner International, LLC, et al. (05/31/2006, en banc order; order here): design patents, point of novelty based on overall appearance, novelty of design patents, point of novelty, acknowledged conflict of law regarding combination of known design elements as being novel or not

Liquid Dynamics Corp. v. Vaughan Company, Inc. (06/01/2006): judgment as a matter of law, evidentiary rulings, and inequitable conduct appellate standards of review; direct infringement and inducement of infringement, direct and circumstantial evidence of infringement, analysis of challenges to expert testimony, foreign infringement, enablement and best mode regarding invalidity, determination of willful infringement and increased damages, incompetent opinions of counsel

Pactiv Corp. v. Dow Chemical Company (06/05/2006): claim preclusion appellate standard of review (law of the regional circuit), dismissal with prejudice as judgment on the merits, collateral estoppel; primarily a civil procedure case

Xerox Corp. v. 3Com Corp., et al. (06/08/2006): invalidity by anticipation, claim indefiniteness; general analysis comparing prior art to the present invention (computerized interpretation of handwritten text)