Cheetah Omni LLC v. AT&T Services, Inc., Ciena Corporation, Ciena Communications, Inc.
Express license of patent includes implied license of continuations.
Express license of patent includes implied license of continuations.
The Federal Circuit again rejects a “practicing the prior art” defense to patent infringement; the court also finds that a purchaser of the patented product at issue has an implied license to use the product in an otherwise infringing manner based on express licenses between the patentee and manufacturers.
Because the plaintiff’s license to a manufacturer required the manufacturer to notify purchasers of their limited rights in the purchased products, claims of system and method infringement are not barred due to an implied license or patent exhaustion.