Federal Circuit Revives Meat-Curing Patent Nixed by Tribunal

The Federal Circuit on Monday revived a meat-curing patent previously invalidated as obvious in April 2023 by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

The tribunal’s decision was problematic because it strayed from the actual argument made in Florida Food Products LLC’s challenge to Kerry Group Services International Ltd.'s US Patent No. 11,071,304, according to an opinion issued by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

“To the extent the Board found the challenged claims to be unpatentable based on an obviousness ground that was not presented in the petition, this was error,” Judge Raymond T. Chen wrote ...