Toyota Fails to Revive Patent on Fingerprint-Reducing Coating
Written July 13, 2020
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on July 10, 2020, affirmed the invalidation of Toyota Motor Corp.’s patent on a coating for reducing the appearance of fingerprints on touchscreen displays. Toyota Motor Corp. v. Reactive Surfaces Ltd., Fed. Cir., No. 18-1906, unpublished 7/10/20.
Reactive Surfaces Ltd., which makes industrial organic compounds used in coatings and paints, sought inter partes review of Toyota’s U.S. Patent No. 8,394,618. The patent is directed to the use of lipase enzymes to remove visible fingerprints from surfaces through vaporization.
Substantial evidence supports the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s finding that the patent was obvious over earlier discoveries, the Federal Circuit said. Specifically, the Board correctly considered an article from forensic science literature as relevant prior art.