February 2015

Looking Ahead

On February 4, 2015, in In re Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC, No. 14-1301 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 4, 2015), the Federal Circuit upheld the final written decision of the Board in the first appeal of an inter partes review (“IPR”).  In its opinion, the Court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the Board’s decision to institute the IPR even after the Board’s final decision.  The Court also held that claims in IPR proceedings should be construed under the broadest reasonable interpretation standard, the Board’s factual determinations on claim construction should be reviewed for substantial evidence, and the ultimate claim construction should be reviewed de novo under the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc., 135 S. Ct. 831 (2015).  The Court ultimately upheld the Board’s determination that the challenged claims directed to an interface for displaying speed limits and vehicle speeds were obvious.  Stay tuned to read the full summary in the next edition of Last Month at the Federal Circuit.