Collateral Estoppel Not Limited to Cases with Identical Patent Claims: Federal Circuit | Practical Law
In Ohio Willow Wood Co. v. Alps South, LLC, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment of invalidity and reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment of no inequitable conduct. Most notably, the Federal Circuit held that collateral estoppel prevented the patentee from challenging the invalidity of the asserted claims, even where the earlier invalidated claims used different language.