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Category Archives: Doctrine of Equivalents

Federal Circuit Explains Unforseeability Under Festo

Posted by Courtenay Brinckerhoff on Posted in Doctrine of Equivalents; Federal Circuit Decisions

In Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Paddock Laboratories, Inc., the Federal Circuit rejected Duramed’s arguments that prosecution history estoppel did not bar application of the doctrine of equivalents under Festo because the equivalent at issue was not foreseeable. In so doing, the Court illuminated the rather narrow applicability of the “unforeseeable” route to rebutting a presumption of prosecution history estoppel.

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The Significance of Numerical Claim Limitations

Posted by Courtenay Brinckerhoff on Posted in Doctrine of Equivalents; Federal Circuit Decisions

Can the doctrine of equivalents be invoked to establish infringement of a claim that recites a numerical value?

Yes, according to the Federal Circuit’s decision in Adams Respiratory Therapeutics, Inc. v. Perrigo Co. 

Can the concept of significant digits be used to establish infringement?

Although the court does not say so directly, its opinion indicates that the answer to this question also is "yes."

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