Cecilia Choy, Ph.D.
Subscribe to Cecilia Choy, Ph.D.'s PostsCecilia Choy, Ph.D., focuses her practice on intellectual property matters and is a certified patent agent. Read Cecilia Choy's full bio.
Co-Authorship ≠ Co-Inventorship but Can Be Supportive of Inventive Contribution
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Jun 9, 2022
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded a Patent Trial & Appeal Board (Board) decision because it failed to resolve fundamental testimonial conflict relating to inventive contribution and complete the Duncan Parking analysis. Google LLC v. IPA Technologies Inc., Case Nos. 21-1179; -1180; -1185 (Fed. Cir. May 19, 2022) (Dyk,...
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Oh Snap: Sufficient Reasoning Must Support Declaratory Judgment Dismissal
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Jun 2, 2022
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the dismissal of a declaratory judgment action because the district court failed to sufficiently support its decision. Mitek Systems, Inc. v. United Services Automobile Association, Case No. 21-1989 (Fed. Cir. May 20, 2022) (Dyk, Taranto, Cunningham, JJ.) United Services Automobile Association (USAA) owns...
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Notice Letters, Related Communications May Establish Specific Personal Jurisdiction
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Apr 28, 2022
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected a bright-line rule that patent infringement notice letters and related communications can never form the basis for specific personal jurisdiction. Apple Inc. v. Zipit Wireless, Inc., Case No. 21-1760 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 18, 2022) (Hughes, Mayer, Stoll, JJ.) Zipit owns two patents directed to wireless...
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Judge Albright Issues Another Round of Updated Patent Rules for WDTX
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Mar 17, 2022
Posted In Patents
As previously reported, Judge Albright issued standing orders for his patent cases. On March 7, 2022, Judge Albright issued another set of rules applicable to his large portfolio of patent cases in the Western District of Texas, with some modifications to his prior rules. This round of new orders includes the following: In the “Amended...
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It’s Highlighted and Verified: Reversal of PTAB Non-Obviousness Decision
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Jun 3, 2021
Posted In Patents
In a relatively unusual outcome, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a Patent Trial & Appeal Board (Board) decision finding non-obviousness in an inter partes review (IPR). Becton, Dickinson, and Co. v. Baxter Corp. Englewood, Case No. 20-1937 (Fed. Cir. May 28, 2021) (Dyk, J.) Becton petitioned the Board for IPR...
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Doctrine of Equivalents Analysis Should Not Be Simple Binary Comparison
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Mar 17, 2021
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit remanded a district court’s claim construction and grant of a defendant’s summary judgment motion of non-infringement under the doctrine of equivalents, finding that a reasonable juror could find that the accused products performed substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve substantially the...
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A Shoe-In? Fleet Feet Gives Injunction Appeal the Moot Boot
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Feb 11, 2021
Posted In Trademarks
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit dismissed a preliminary injunction as moot where the enjoined party had discontinued the use complained of and had no future plan to restart it. Fleet Feet, Inc. v. Nike, Inc., Case No. 19-2390 (4th Cir. Jan. 26, 2021) (Diaz, J.) The Court denied the enjoined party’s...
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2020 IP Law Year in Review: Copyrights
By Christina (Tina) L. Martini, Jodi Benassi and Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Feb 2, 2021
Posted In Copyrights
Executive Summary Copyright jurisprudence in 2020 was, in many ways, a study in the scope of copyright protection. While certain courts brought century-year-old precedent to the forefront to interpret the scope of copyrights, other courts ruled overruled 40 years of precedent to even the playing field between popular works and works that are less known....
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2020 IP Law Year in Review: Patents
By Amol Parikh and Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Jan 28, 2021
Posted In Patents
Executive Summary In 2020, the US Supreme Court and Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit continued to refine key aspects of intellectual property law on issues that will have an impact on litigation, patent prosecution and business strategy. This Special Report discusses some of the most important decisions. The Federal Circuit issued several panel...
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Res Judicata on Procedural Grounds Precludes Similar Claims Arising After Prior Judgment
By Cecilia Choy, Ph.D. on Sep 2, 2020
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court decision that res judicata can apply to dismissals on procedural grounds and to claims arising after a prior judgment. Sowinski v. California Air Resources Board, Case No. 19-1558 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 21, 2020) (Newman, J.) Richard Sowinski is the inventor of a...
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