Wednesday, November 13, 2013

In re Translogic Technology, Inc. case brief

In re Translogic Technology, Inc. case brief summary
504 F.3d 1249 (2007)


CASE SYNOPSIS
A patent holder sought review of a decision of the United States Patent and Trademark Office Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, which upheld an examiner's rejection of the patent at issue in a reexamination proceeding because of obviousness, pursuant to 35 U.S.C.S. § 103(a).

CASE FACTS
The patent holder owned a patent related to multiplexers, a type of electrical circuit. The patent was the subject of patent infringement litigation between the holder and a corporation. The corporation had filed five third-party requests with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) for reexamination of the patent, and the requests were consolidated into one proceeding. The PTO found the claims obvious and the Board denied the holder's request for reconsideration.


DISCUSSION

  • The court determined initially that the Board properly interpreted the patent claim related to input terminals coupled to receive first and second input variables based on the plain terms in the claim and the definitions in the specification. "Coupled to receive" was properly construed as "capable of receiving" an unspecified connection. 
  • Based upon relevant prior art, the claims at issue were not patentable. 
  • A person of ordinary skill of the art would have a thorough understanding of the electrical switching systems and knowledge of actual electrical implementations. 
  • The court rejected the owner's assertion that the reference relied upon by the Board was not prior Article
CONCLUSION
The court affirmed the decision of the Board.

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