United States Federal Circuit - April 2001 Opinion Summaries

TELEMAC CELLULAR CORP. v. TOPP TELECOM, INC.

Communications Law, Intellectual Property, Patent
Where nothing in the written description suggests that the patentee intended the unambiguous language to be construed in a manner inconsistent with...

BRISTOL-MEYERS SQUIBB CO. v. BEN VENUE LABORATIIES, INC.

Intellectual Property, Patent
While plaintiff's inventors may have achieved success where defendant failed, one cannot obtain a valid patent on a known use of a known process that...

METRONIC, INC. v. ADVANCED CARDIOVASCULAR SYS., INC.

Intellectual Property, Patent
The district court correctly construed the means-plus-function limitation under 35 USC 112(6) where there is no clear link or association between...

BLANK v. DEPT. OF THE ARMY

Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law
Ex-parte investigatory interviews made prior to an Army employee's termination are not communications that violate the Due Process Clause under the...

AQUA MARINE SUPPLY v. AIM MACHINING, INC.

Intellectual Property, Patent
The parties' settlement agreement "to settle all the claims now pending between them" moots any claim challenging the district court's decision...

PROGRAM & CONSTR. MGMT. GROUP, INC. v. DAVIS

Government Contracts
Where government contract provisions would make little sense and serve no reasonable purpose unless the cafeteria and kitchen in the government...

GEN. ELEC. CO. - MED. SYS. GROUP v. US

Antitrust & Trade Regulation, International Trade
Multiformat cameras used with computerized tomography x-ray scanners are properly classified under subheading 9022.90.60 of the Harmonized Tariff...

ELECTRO SCIENTIFIC INDUS. v. GENERAL SCANNING INC.

Intellectual Property, Patent
Defendant's failure to show that its customers used the product for noninfrining uses does not support its claim for judgment as a matter of law on...

THOMSON CONSUMER ELECTORNICS v. US

Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Tax Law
The United States Customs Service lacks authority to render a decision regarding the constitutionality of Harbor Maintenance Taxes ("HMT") as applied...

IN RE: HARUNA

Intellectual Property, Patent
Appellant's claimed patent design application for transparent region of pre-recorded optical disks differs from the existing patent design where the...