Case: Patents/Obviousness (Fed. Cir.)

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s final written decisions in Aisin Seiki Co. Ltd.'s two inter partes reviews challenging Intellectual Ventures II LLC’s patent that discloses fluid-cooled electromagnetic devices which contain parts that are substantially encapsulated in a monolithic body of a phase change polymer and include heat-exchange mechanisms. The Federal Circuit concluded that substantial evidence supports (1) the board’s findings that a Japanese patent application discloses the use of injection molded thermoplastic in its motor and (2) the board’s conclusion that claims 24–27 of the patent are unpatentable as obvious.