Federal Circuit Upholds PTAB Decision to Invalidate Tracking Patent Claims

By Editorial Team

The Federal Circuit recently upheld a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to invalidate claims in a group of patents related to tracking items during surgeries and other applications. The challenges to how the PTAB interpreted key claim terms were rejected by the Federal Circuit.

The patents in question include:

• 7,557,711 – Interrogator and interrogation system employing the same
• 9,646,182 – Interrogator and interrogation system employing the same
• 9,996,717 – Interrogator and interrogation system employing the same
• 10,482,293 – Interrogator and interrogation system employing the same

The law firms involved in the case are Morgan Lewis and Munsch Hardt, representing Zebra Technologies Corp. The government agencies involved include the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

This decision by the Federal Circuit highlights the importance of precise claim language in patents and the significant role the PTAB plays in interpreting and validating patent claims.