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22 February 2016Patents

Court puts lid on container patent validity in Heinz row

Food maker Heinz has been handed a victory at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit after the court said a patent covering a “condiment container” was invalid.

On Friday, February 19, the federal circuit affirmed an earlier ruling from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that US patent number 8,231,026, owned by inventor Scott White, was obvious and anticipated.

White complained that Heinz’s “dip & squeeze” container infringed his design for a condiment holder that could be securely stored in the drink holder of a car.

He sued Heinz at the US District Court for the District of Illinois in 2012, but the case was stayed pending an inter partes re-examination request against the ‘026 patent filed by Heinz.

An inter partes re-examination was the mechanism used by parties to challenge existing patents at the PTAB before the adoption of the America Invents Act, which saw the introduction of inter partes reviews (IPRs).

Under the old system, parties could file a re-examination request after they were challenged with an infringement claim or after a court’s final ruling. An IPR must be filed one year after a lawsuit being filed.

Heinz’s re-examination request was filed shortly before the adoption of the IPR mechanism on September 16, 2012.

In Friday’s ruling, the federal circuit said that “the PTAB did not err in its determinations”.

A spokesperson for Heinz told WIPR: “We are pleased with the decision as we have always maintained this case was groundless and without merit.”

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