Latest Case: Caterpillar Paving Products, Inc. v. Wirtgen America, Inc. (Intellectual Property)

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Caterpillar Paving Products, Inc. v. Wirtgen America, Inc.

Docket: 20-1261

Opinion Date: May 6, 2020

Judge: Timothy B. Dyk

Areas of Law: Intellectual Property, Patents

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board instituted inter partes review of Caterpillar’s patent and issued its final written decision on November 13, 2019. Caterpillar appealed, then moved to vacate and remand for a new hearing before a differently constituted panel in light of the Federal Circuit’s 2019 “Arthrex” holding that the administrative patent judges of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board were improperly appointed. The Federal Circuit denied the motion. Unlike prior cases, which have been remanded, Arthrex issued before the Board’s final written decision in Caterpillar’s case. The Arthrex holding was expressly limited “to those cases where final written decisions were issued.” The court rejected an argument that even if the panel members became constitutional immediately before issuing the final written decision, that “does not cure a year’s worth of constitutional violations influencing the Board’s thinking and conclusions.”