Air Force Shoots Down Pilot Urine Bag Patent

The U.S. government’s successful infringement defense against a patent on a bag for the containment and disposal of urine used by Air Force pilots was upheld on appeal.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed Dec. 19 that U.S. Patent 5,116,139, applied for in the late 1980s, was invalid as an obvious adaptation of a contemporary military specification with newly available super-absorbent materials.

The case arose from a long battle between patentee American Innotek Inc. and the New York City Institute for the Blind. The government switched suppliers in 2001 to comply with purchasing preferences for ...