We recently wrote about the Federal Circuit’s 2020 decision in
Donner Technology, LLC. v. Pro Stage Gear, LLC, where the Federal Circuit vacated the PTAB’s denial of an obviousness challenge due to its finding that the prior art was not analogous art. In doing so, the Federal Circuit cautioned against defining the particular problem too narrowly such that proper prior art is not considered as analogous art. In its recent final written decision in
The challenged patent in
Perma Pure, U.S. Patent No. 9,861,298, related to “the use of a tube for sampling of respiratory gases.”
Perma Pure, at 9.
From Respiratory Care To Power Plants: The PTAB On Analogous Art - Intellectual Property mondaq.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mondaq.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
, the Federal Circuit determination as to whether a reference is analogous art to a claimed invention requires, in part, an identification and comparison of the purposes or problems to which the reference and the invention relate, from the perspective of a person having ordinary skill in the art (“PHOSITA”).
Donner requested IPR of a patent owned by Pro Stage relating to a mounting board for guitar effects pedals. In its IPR request, Donner asserted that the patent was obvious, in part, in view of a prior art reference related to electrical relay structures (“Mullen”). The PTAB rejected Donner’s obviousness challenges on the ground that Donner failed to demonstrate that Mullen was analogous art. Donner appealed.
Why Register with Mondaq
Free, unlimited access to more than half a million articles (one-article limit removed) from the diverse perspectives of 5,000 leading law, accountancy and advisory firms
Articles tailored to your interests and optional alerts about important changes
Receive priority invitations to relevant webinars and events
You’ll only need to do it once, and readership information is just for authors and is never sold to third parties.
Your Organisation
We need this to enable us to match you with other users from the same organisation, it is also part of the information that we share to our content providers ( Contributors ) who contribute Content for free for your use.