Arctic Cat Invalidated Patent Sent Back to PTAB
Written March 27, 2019
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on March 26, 2019, held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board wrongly invalidated an Arctic Cat Inc. patent based on an earlier-filed application. Arctic Cat Inc. v. GEP Power Prods. Inc., Fed. Cir., No. 2018-1520, 3/26/19.
In July 2016, GEP filed petitions for inter partes reviews of US Patent Nos. 7,072,188 and 7,420,822, both titled “Power Distribution Module for Personal Recreational Vehicle,” arguing that the patents were invalid as anticipated or obvious under another application as prior art. The board invalidated both patents.
While the Federal Circuit affirmed the board’s decision invalidating the ‘822 patent, it found that Arctic Cat’s invention was reduced to practice “diligently” before the similar application was filed, and therefore the other application wasn’t invalidating prior art. The Federal Circuit vacated and remanded for further proceedings.
In July 2016, GEP filed petitions for inter partes reviews of US Patent Nos. 7,072,188 and 7,420,822, both titled “Power Distribution Module for Personal Recreational Vehicle,” arguing that the patents were invalid as anticipated or obvious under another application as prior art. The board invalidated both patents.
While the Federal Circuit affirmed the board’s decision invalidating the ‘822 patent, it found that Arctic Cat’s invention was reduced to practice “diligently” before the similar application was filed, and therefore the other application wasn’t invalidating prior art. The Federal Circuit vacated and remanded for further proceedings.