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ARTICLE · 15 NOVEMBER 2021

Patent Case Summaries | Week Ending November 5, 2021

Alston & Bird
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A weekly summary of the precedential patent-related opinions issued by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the opinions designated precedential or informative by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Kirk T. Bradley
Kirk T. Bradley
Monica Manning
Monica Manning

A weekly summary of the precedential patent-related opinions issued by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the opinions designated precedential or informative by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

University of Strathclyde v. Clear-Vu Lighting, LLC, No. 2020-2243 (Fed. Cir. (PTAB) Nov. 4, 2021). Opinion by Stoll, joined by Reyna and Clevenger.

The Federal Circuit reversed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board's obviousness determination because "neither the Board's finding that the prior art disclosed all claim limitations nor its finding of a reasonable expectation of success is supported by substantial evidence." 

The patented invention relates to methods for photoinactivating certain antibiotic-resistant bacteria without using a photosensitizing agent. The Board found that claims 1 and 3 would have been obvious over the combination of "Ashkenazi" and "Nitzan" and that claims 2 and 4 would have been obvious in further view of a third reference. 

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