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Difficulty In Articulating Description Is Relevant To A Determination Of Indefiniteness

Client Alert | 1 min read | 06.12.06

In Xerox Corp. v. 3Com Corp , (No. 04-1470), the Federal Circuit reverses in part, vacates in part and remands the district court's summary judgment of invalidity of U.S. Patent No. 5,596,656 (“the ‘656 patent'). Xerox brought suit against 3COM alleging infringement of the ‘656 patent by the “Graffiti” system used in 3Com's PalmPilot devices. The Federal Circuit, which had previously remanded this case on two separate occasions, finds that the district court erred in concluding the term “sloppiness space” is insolubly ambiguous and thereby invalid. The specification, although not considered as providing a rigorously precise description, is deemed nonetheless to provide adequate guidance, “particularly in light of the difficulty in articulating a more exact standard for the concept.”

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Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25

Buying Peace: The Importance of Releasing FCA Liability When Resolving Criminal Allegations of Fraud Against the Government

The facts before the Third Circuit in the recently decided case of Patel v. United States illustrate how parties can put themselves in a bind if they make factual admissions when resolving a criminal case involving fraud on the government while not simultaneously resolving the government’s civil claims under the False Claims Act (FCA) for the same underlying conduct....