Money Clip Patent Revived as Fed. Cir. Finds It Was Nixed Early

A California federal district court too hastily invalidated patent claims covering a money clip, the Federal Circuit ruled Tuesday, finding there were still open questions about whether a competitor’s product predated it.

In a precedential decision, Judge Leonard Stark wrote that “genuine disputes of material fact” still exist as to whether Mosaic Brands Inc.’s Smart Money Clip II product is prior art that should knocked out Ridge Wallet LLC’s patent.

Mosaic’s burden was “to show that no reasonable factfinder, taking the evidence in the light most favorable to Ridge, could do anything other than find clear and convincing evidence ...