Order Granting Motion to File Supplementing Briefing,
Tessera, Inc. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., et al.,
Case No. C 05-cv-4063 (Judge Claudia Wilken)
The Supreme Court took a keen interest in patent cases this
term, and the ripple effects are already being felt. The Court
changed the standard for patent indefiniteness in its recent
opinion in Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc. In
Nautilus, the Supreme Court appeared to relax the Federal
Circuit's strict "insolubly ambiguous" standard for
indefiniteness, in holding that a claim was indefinite when it
failed to inform, "with reasonable certainty," those
skilled in the art about the scope of the invention.
Nautilus will likely have a significant impact on pending
patent cases as defendants seek to take advantage of the new
indefiniteness standard. Judge Wilken's Order in this
Tessera case illustrates how a defendant could seek to
raise a Nautilus defense in a case that is well
underway.
