On May 15, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision in favor of Finnegan client Toyota and co-appellees Aisin Seiki and Honda, affirming that several claims of Intellectual Ventures’ patent covering a system to prevent coolants from corroding a motor are invalid.
Toyota, Aisin, and Honda argued that the patent claims were obvious in light of an earlier Japanese patent application called Konishi, which disclosed a “stator can” that met the patent’s limitation of a “monolithic body of injection-molded thermoplastic material” that encapsulates part of the device. Intellectual Ventures appealed, stating it wouldn’t have been reasonable to make Konishi’s can from thermoplastic because the material would soften or melt in high heat. Based on the text of Konishi and expert testimony, the PTAB rejected Intellectual Ventures’ argument; the Federal Circuit agreed.
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