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 seventy-sixth through the eightieth IP cases that were appealed from the district court level and decided by the Federal Circuit in 2006. All opinions are precedential unless otherwise indicated.

Gemmy Industries Corp. v. Chrisha Creations Limited, et al. (06/22/2006): on-sale bar under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b), presumption of validity, invalidity based on on-sale bar, contradicting earlier sworn testimony, product claimed in patent and product offered for sale, no offer for sale if key terms are absent

Honeywell International, Inc., et al. v. ITT Industries, Inc., et al. (06/22/2006): specification as guidance to meaning of terms during claim construction, identification of the patentable subject matter ("this invention relates to," and "according to the present invention" specification language), arguments made during prosecution versus disclosures within the specification, specification disclaiming subject matter and its impact on doctrine of equivalents

Abbott Laboratories v. Andrx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al. (06/22/2006): preliminary and permanent injunctions (and abuse of discretion), claim construction preceding obviousness determination, guidance to claim term meaning during claim construction, standards for determining obviousness, enablement requirement, motivation to combine prior art references, unexpected results as evidence of nonobviousness, irreparable harm

AGFA Corp. v. CREO Products, Inc., et al. (06/26/2006): inequitable conduct bench trial separate from infringement jury trial, right to a jury trial, materiality of prior art, writ of scire facias, history of 18th century English patent law, use of general purpose dictionaries during claim construction, presumption that independent claims do not include the limitations of dependent claims, inequitable conduct and materiality of evidence, undisclosed prior art, intent to mislead, impact of inequitable conduct to related applications, balancing of materiality and intent, exceptional cases and award of attorneys' fees

NPF, Ltd. v. Smart Parts, Inc. (06/27/2006, non-precedential): review of judgment as a matter of law, claim construction preceding obviousness determination, Graham factors for determining obviousness, combination of prior art references, overcoming obviousness by commercial success