Federal Circuit Rejects Challenge to PTAB Timing, Affirms Ford’s IPR Victories
On December 23, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed three decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) finding claims of fuel-management patents asserted by Ethanol Boosting Systems, LLC (“EBS”) unpatentable as obvious.
Winter Is Coming for AI Outputs: SDNY Allows AI Copyright Claims to Proceed
On October 27, 2025, Judge Sidney H. Stein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied OpenAI’s motion to dismiss authors’ output-based copyright infringement claims in In re OpenAI, Inc. Copyright Infringement Litigation.
When the MudMaster Sank the Patent: Federal Circuit Affirms Anticipation in Wilco v. Weeks
On August 19, 2025, the Federal Circuit issued a non-precedential opinion affirming a Louisiana district court’s invalidation of U.S. Patent No. 6,918,801, owned by Wilco Marsh Buggies & Draglines, Inc. (“Wilco”), under the on-sale bar.
The Machine May Learn, But the Patent Won’t Survive: Federal Circuit Denies Rehearing in Recentive v. Fox
On July 23, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied a petition for both panel and en banc rehearing in Recentive Analytics, Inc. v. Fox Corp., leaving in place its earlier precedential decision in the matter that applying standard machine learning techniques to a new environment is not enough to qualify for patent protection under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The court’s denial confirms its first major precedential decision on machine learning patents, suggesting a shift in how AI claims will be treated under § 101.
LookSmart, Think Abstract: Google Dodges Suit on Section 101 Grounds
On June 26, 2025, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued a decision in LookSmart Group v. Google LLC, granting Google’s motion to dismiss LookSmart’s infringement lawsuit. The court found that the claims of LookSmart’s patent were directed to an abstract idea and lacked the requisite “inventive concept” required for patent eligibility.