Vonage filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington D.C. to vacate and remand the U.S. District Court’s decision finding Vonage infringed on certain Verizon technology.
Vonage cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this week in the KSR v. Teleflex case, which establishes a new test for determining when an invention is too obvious to warrant patent protection.
“We are very encouraged by the Supreme Court’s decision and the giant step it represents towards achieving much-needed patent reform in this country,” said Jeffrey Citron, Vonage chairman and interim chief executive officer.”
“Everyone knows you can’t patent an orange, but you can – and someone likely already does – hold the patent for an orange picker,” said Sharon O’Leary, Vonage’s executive vice president, chief legal officer and secretary. “According to the Supreme Court’s ruling, if you patent an orange picker, and then someone else comes along and puts a glove on it to protect the oranges against bruising, you can’t patent this new invention as “novel” as it is just an obvious improvement of the original invention. The Supreme Court’s decision thus focuses on keeping only what’s truly novel and original protected by patents.”http://www.vonage.com
