The Unified Patent Court Committees Have Hit the Ground Running
The European Union has recently taken steps to integrate the Unified Patent Court (UPC) into their judicial system by getting the first few committee meetings underway, appointing judges, and adopting human resource standards for the Court. These are small steps which will lead to big advancements for patent proprietors in Europe, making it easier to enforce patents across borders in the European Union.
<em>American National v. Sleep Number Corporation</em>
On November 14, 2022, the federal circuit court released a precedential opinion on an appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The court’s opinion affirmed and clarified the Board’s decision. The case hinged on multiple claims’ of patentability regarding Sleep Number’s mattress pressure programming and in what ways Sleep Number could amend their claims in anticipation of an inter partes review. The court held that the Board was correct in rejecting multiple unpatentability arguments from American National Manufacturing and further held that some Sleep Number claims were unpatentable.