Alston & Bird client Diebold Nixdorf Inc. won a significant victory over competitor Nautilus Hyosung in a patent dispute before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In a unanimous ruling, the court agreed with Diebold Nixdorf that all the asserted claims of the patent at issue were invalid as indefinite. The Federal Circuit decision reverses a 2017 finding by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that Diebold violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.
In making its ruling, the court held that the term “cheque standby unit” recited in Hyosung’s U.S. Patent Number 8,523,235 is a means-plus-function term subject to the requirements of Section 112, paragraph 6 of the Patent Act. The panel determined that the asserted claims were invalid as indefinite because the patent lacked the necessary corresponding structure for performing the claimed function.
The court’s ruling is the most recent development in a dispute spanning nearly three years across both the federal courts and the ITC and including 10 asserted patents between the two companies. Diebold Nixdorf, one of the world’s leading innovators in financial self-service technology, actively protects its intellectual property rights.
Representing Diebold Nixdorf in the matter are Alston & Bird partners Patrick Flinn, Keith Broyles, Adam Swain, and David Frist; senior associates Pamela Councill and Joshua Weeks; and associate Caitlin Smith of the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group.
The case is Diebold Nixdorf, Inc. v. ITC, No. 17-2553, appeal from Automated Teller Machines, ATM Modules, Components Thereof, and Products Containing the Same, U.S. ITC Investigation No. 337-TA-989.
In making its ruling, the court held that the term “cheque standby unit” recited in Hyosung’s U.S. Patent Number 8,523,235 is a means-plus-function term subject to the requirements of Section 112, paragraph 6 of the Patent Act. The panel determined that the asserted claims were invalid as indefinite because the patent lacked the necessary corresponding structure for performing the claimed function.
The court’s ruling is the most recent development in a dispute spanning nearly three years across both the federal courts and the ITC and including 10 asserted patents between the two companies. Diebold Nixdorf, one of the world’s leading innovators in financial self-service technology, actively protects its intellectual property rights.
Representing Diebold Nixdorf in the matter are Alston & Bird partners Patrick Flinn, Keith Broyles, Adam Swain, and David Frist; senior associates Pamela Councill and Joshua Weeks; and associate Caitlin Smith of the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group.
The case is Diebold Nixdorf, Inc. v. ITC, No. 17-2553, appeal from Automated Teller Machines, ATM Modules, Components Thereof, and Products Containing the Same, U.S. ITC Investigation No. 337-TA-989.