On September 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) denied a combined petition by ALPS South, St. Petersburg, Florida, for the panel and the court’s entire bench to rehear a case involving U.S. Patent No. 6,552,109 for prosthetic gel liners.
On June 5, the Federal Circuit ruled that ALPS lacked standing to bring patent infringement claims in a lawsuit, reversing a November 2013 District Court judgment against WillowWood, Mt. Sterling, Ohio. Following that decision, ALPS filed petitions with the Federal Circuit. This latest order by that court denies the petitions; therefore, neither the court’s judicial panel that heard the appeal nor all circuit judges in regular service will rehear the case. As a result, the case will now return to the District Court with instructions to dismiss the action as per the June 2015 appeals decision.
The original 2013 judgment by the District Court in favor of ALPS prevented WillowWood from manufacturing or selling its Alpha® Liners. The patent involved in the original litigation expired in 2014.
“We were pleased with the order from the court in regards to the petition,” said Ryan Arbogast, WillowWood president.
ALPS did not respond to our request for comment.
