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ARTICLE · 08 JUNE 2021

Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace - Avoiding Future Estoppel Challenges

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
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In Olaplex, Inc. v. L'Oréal USA, Inc., --F. App'x.__ (Fed. Cir. May 6, 2021) (Taranto, Dyk, and Reyna) (non-precedential), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ("Federal Circuit") vacated the...

United StatesIntellectual Property
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
Brooke M. Wilner
Brooke M. Wilner
Stacy Lewis
Stacy Lewis
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Holding

In Olaplex, Inc. v. L'Oréal USA, Inc., --F. App'x.__ (Fed. Cir. May 6, 2021) (Taranto, Dyk, and Reyna) (non-precedential), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ("Federal Circuit") vacated the infringement judgment and remanded the case.1 

Background

The patents at issue initially were U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,498,419 ("the '419 patent") and 9,668,954 ("the '954 patent"). However, after several other proceedings, the only claims remaining at issue were claims 14-16 of the '954 patent.2

In the district court, L'Oréal raised the affirmative defense that claims 14–16 of the '954 patent were invalid for obviousness and lack of written description support. See Liqwd, Inc. v. L'Oréal USA, Inc., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 215668 (D. Del. December 16, 2019).

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