WeatherTech Product Success Not Enough to Beat Patent Challenge

An administrative tribunal wrongly validated claims in a patent for improved vehicle floor mats, the Federal Circuit ruled Tuesday, saying secondary considerations shouldn’t override a baseline obviousness determination.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board wrongly accepted MacNeil IP LLC’s reasoning that billions in dollars of sales of its WeatherTech vehicle floor mats outweighed evidence that several prior art references could’ve been combined to knock out the claims, Judge Richard G. Taranto wrote for the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a precedential opinion.

“The Board’s own findings, in light of the proper application of our precedent, ...