Skyhawke Techs., LLC v. Deca Int'l Corp., No. 16-1325 (Fed. Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseSkyHawke sued Deca for infringement of the 498 patent. Deca requested inter partes reexamination. The court stayed the litigation pending the outcome. The Patent Office granted reexamination, finding substantial new questions of patentability for claims 5-8. The examiner initially rejected all claims based on several grounds of obviousness, but subsequently reversed, confirming the patentability of all of the claims. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board affirmed, with a lengthy analysis of the meaning of the phrase “means . . . for determining a distance” recited in claim 5. The Board identified particular algorithms in the 498 patent as providing the corresponding structure for that claim element, as required for a means-plus-function claim, 35 U.S.C. 112, and concluded that none of the prior art references disclosed the algorithmic structure corresponding to that of claim 5. Skyhawke appealed, arguing that the Board decision should be affirmed but that the claim construction should be corrected. The Federal Circuit dismissed, citing the prudential rule that the prevailing party in a lower tribunal cannot ordinarily seek relief in the appellate court. SkyHawke will have the opportunity to argue its preferred claim construction to the district court, and can appeal an unfavorable claim construction if necessary.
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