Litigation News

Edison launched numerous legal battles against electricity rival George Westinghouse and other competitors. Samuel Morse's telegraph patent defense reached the Supreme Court, where he lost in a controversial 1854 decision. Alexander Graham Bell's 1875 telephone patent faced challenges when another inventor submitted similar designs the same day, but Bell ultimately prevailed after years of litigation. Experts now worry innovation is stymied by litigation-choked "patent thickets" involving smartphones' 250,000 patents.

Hagens Berman filed a securities class action against Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERAS) for alleged federal securities law violations. The lawsuit stems from Revolution Medicines accusing Erasca of patent infringement regarding ERAS-0015 pan-RAS therapy and a patient death following treatment. Class period covers January 14, 2025 to April 26, 2026. Erasca's stock dropped 48% ($9.25) after disclosures, eliminating $2.8 billion market cap. Lead plaintiff deadline is August 10, 2026.

USPTO Director John Squires denied Apple's IPR petitions challenging WeCrevention patents, citing inconsistent claim construction positions between PTAB proceedings and Western District of Texas litigation. WeCrevention sued Apple for patent infringement involving LPDDR DRAM in iPhones, MacBooks, and iPads. Apple argued contradictory positions on preamble limitations and means-plus-function claims across venues. Squires applied Revvo precedent, emphasizing petitioners must maintain consistent constructions and avoid strategic gamesmanship between district court and PTAB proceedings.

USPTO Director Squires partially vacated a PTAB decision finding Pictiva Displays' patent claims unpatentable, after a Texas jury found claim 2 infringed and valid in parallel litigation against Samsung Electronics. The Board failed to explain why its obviousness conclusion differed from the jury verdict on the same claim. Case remanded requiring PTAB to address the conflicting outcomes and provide detailed explanation if maintaining different findings than the district court.

USPTO Director Squires issued a precedential order in Light & Wonder v. Evolution Malta extending the deadline for requesting Director Review of PTAB institution decisions from 14 to 30 days. The order terminated three IPR proceedings after a district court granted Light & Wonder's motion to dismiss, finding Evolution Malta's challenged patent claims invalid under Section 101. Squires ruled continuing the IPRs would be inefficient given the parallel litigation outcome.

Shanghai High People's Court dismissed all patent infringement claims by Shanghai Xiao-I Corp. against Apple's Siri technology, ruling Siri does not infringe Xiao-I's "Chat Robot System" patent and iPhone models fall outside patent scope. Xiao-I had sought $1.43 billion damages and injunction on Siri-equipped products in China. Court also denied Apple's $278,000 counter-claim for litigation expenses. Xiao-I plans to appeal to Supreme People's Court despite earlier patent validity ruling in its favor.

Supreme Court denied certiorari in Dolby Laboratories v. Unified Patents LLC, declining to review whether patent owners can compel PTAB petitioners to identify all real parties in interest in IPR proceedings. The case stemmed from Federal Circuit's dismissal of Dolby's appeal for lack of Article III standing after Dolby won the underlying IPR challenging video decoding patent claims. USPTO has since restored stricter RPI identification requirements following Director Squires' October 2025 memo addressing foreign state-backed exploitation concerns.

Cornerstone Research report shows U.S. patent litigation declining due to uncertainty from eBay v. MercExchange (2006) ruling and America Invents Act (2011), which reduced injunctive relief and created PTAB proceedings. Patent enforcement has shifted globally to China, EU Unified Patent Court, Germany, UK, and Netherlands offering faster timelines and injunctive relief. China's patent cases rose from 10,000 (2015) to 45,000 (2023). Trade secret litigation increased following Defend Trade Secrets Act (2016). AI developments are reshaping IP enforcement frameworks globally.

US District Court for Northern District of Illinois dismissed patent infringement lawsuit filed by Natsoft Corporation and UK affiliate Updraft against Hexaware Technologies. Court ruled Natsoft's patents claimed abstract ideas ineligible for protection under US law. Natsoft alleged Hexaware's Amaze, Tensai, and RapidX platforms infringed proprietary technologies. Hexaware maintained platforms were developed independently and holds its own patents for these technologies. Ruling followed Hexaware's December motion to dismiss the October-filed lawsuit.

Gilbert Hyatt petitioned the Supreme Court for certiorari challenging the Federal Circuit's prosecution laches doctrine from Hyatt v. Hirshfeld and Hyatt v. Stewart. The Federal Circuit created a six-year presumption rule for "unreasonable delay" that can forfeit patent rights. The USPTO opposed, claiming limited impact on post-1995 patents. However, data shows prosecution laches defenses were asserted in 424+ federal cases involving 1,786 post-1995 patents, contradicting USPTO's position about diminishing importance.