Trading Technologies wins on appeal to CAFC
The district court was reversed in Trading Technologies
In this patent infringement action, Plaintiff-Appellant Trading Technologies International, Inc. (“TT”) appeals from the district court’s entry of summary judgment that (i) the asserted claims of TT’s U.S. Patents 7,676,411 (the “’411 patent”), 7,693,768 (the “’768 patent”), 7,904,374 (the “’374 patent”), and 7,685,055 (the “’055 patent”) are invalid for failure to comply with the written description requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 112; and (ii) prosecution history estoppel bars TT from asserting the ’055 patent against software products that include certain display functions. The district court premised both holdings on deference to our prior decision in Trading Technologies International, Inc. v. eSpeed, Inc., 595 F.3d 1340 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (“eSpeed”), which considered two related pa- tents from TT’s portfolio.
We conclude that eSpeed does not control the issues presented in this appeal, and the district court’s rulings based on that case are therefore incorrect. Accordingly, and as described more fully below, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.
AND
As described, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendants as to the invalidity of most claims of TT’s ’411, ’768, ’374, and ’055 patents, holding that our prior decision in eSpeed rendered those claims invalid as a matter of law for failing to satisfy the written description requirement of § 112.
TT argues that the district court relied on portions of eSpeed that dealt solely with interpreting the term “stat- ic” in the related ’132 and ’304 patents without determin- ing or addressing the scope of the patents’ shared disclosure. Noting that the sufficiency of a patent’s writ- ten description presents a question of fact, TT faults the district court for relying entirely on eSpeed rather than conducting its own analysis of whether any of the claims at issue find adequate written description support under § 112. TT contends that, on the merits and apart from any misapplication of eSpeed, the claims of the ’411, ’768, ’374, and ’055 patents satisfy the written description requirement.
In this patent infringement action, Plaintiff-Appellant Trading Technologies International, Inc. (“TT”) appeals from the district court’s entry of summary judgment that (i) the asserted claims of TT’s U.S. Patents 7,676,411 (the “’411 patent”), 7,693,768 (the “’768 patent”), 7,904,374 (the “’374 patent”), and 7,685,055 (the “’055 patent”) are invalid for failure to comply with the written description requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 112; and (ii) prosecution history estoppel bars TT from asserting the ’055 patent against software products that include certain display functions. The district court premised both holdings on deference to our prior decision in Trading Technologies International, Inc. v. eSpeed, Inc., 595 F.3d 1340 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (“eSpeed”), which considered two related pa- tents from TT’s portfolio.
We conclude that eSpeed does not control the issues presented in this appeal, and the district court’s rulings based on that case are therefore incorrect. Accordingly, and as described more fully below, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.
AND
As described, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendants as to the invalidity of most claims of TT’s ’411, ’768, ’374, and ’055 patents, holding that our prior decision in eSpeed rendered those claims invalid as a matter of law for failing to satisfy the written description requirement of § 112.
TT argues that the district court relied on portions of eSpeed that dealt solely with interpreting the term “stat- ic” in the related ’132 and ’304 patents without determin- ing or addressing the scope of the patents’ shared disclosure. Noting that the sufficiency of a patent’s writ- ten description presents a question of fact, TT faults the district court for relying entirely on eSpeed rather than conducting its own analysis of whether any of the claims at issue find adequate written description support under § 112. TT contends that, on the merits and apart from any misapplication of eSpeed, the claims of the ’411, ’768, ’374, and ’055 patents satisfy the written description requirement.
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 3:37 AM
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