Federal Circuit Backs Board’s Invalidation of Estech VoIP Patent

The US Patent and Trademark Office correctly found claims in an Estech Systems IP LLC patent covering quality improvements to voice over internet protocol telephone systems to be obvious and unpatentable, the Federal Circuit ruled.

The appeals court, in a Tuesday opinion by Judge Timothy B. Dyk, affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling that backed a patent examiner’s rejection of 13 claims in US Patent No. 7,068,684 during an ex parte reexamination.

Cisco Systems Inc. requested the reexamination in 2021, arguing a combination of earlier inventions rendered the ‘684 patent obvious.

Since 2020, Estech has filed more than ...