Pregis Corp. v. Kappos, No. 10-1492 (Fed. Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseFree-Flow and Pregis are competitors in the air-filled packaging cushion industry. Air-filled cushions are used to fill space in shipping boxes carrying lightweight items that do not take up all the available space in a box. Demand for lightweight packaging rose rapidly with the growth of internet retail sales. “Air-pillow” packaging emerged as a preferred alternative to polystyrene foam, “peanuts,” or crumpled paper as filling material. Free-Flow holds three patents relating to air-filled packaging technology that claim priority to applications filed in 1999-2000. Free-Flow claims to have improved on prior art machines by increasing the ease of loading film, and by creating a more reliable seal to produce uniformly-inflated air cushions. Pregis sought a declaratory judgment of noninfringement and invalidity and took the unusual step of suing the PTO, its then-director, and Free-Flow under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 701–706, to prevent the issuance of two pending Free-Flow patent applications. The district court dismissed Pregis’ APA claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, but upheld a verdict of noninfringement and invalidity against Free-Flow. The Federal Circuit affirmed.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.