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**DISTRICT COURT ERRED IN HOLDING CLAIM TERM INDEFINITE
GoTV Streaming, LLC v. Netflix, Inc., 24-1669, 24-1744 — Yesterday in an opinion by Judge TARANTO, the Federal Circuit reversed a district court judgment that Netflix had infringed GoTV’s patent for a method of delivering requested content from a server to a wireless device while tailoring the content to the device’s display specifications because the patents were directed to an ineligible abstract idea. GoTV argued the district court erred in holding the claim term “discrete low level rendering command” indefinite.
The Federal Circuit agreed. The district court rejected GoTV’s proposed construction as “[a] discrete rendering command that is tailored based on wireless device capability” because it made “significant portions of the specification and claims” “superfluous,” particularly when substituting the term for the construction in a claim that read “discrete low level rendering command tailored based on the rendering capability of [client].” The repetition of words was not a substantial basis upon which to conclude a relevant artisan would be confused by the claim scope and would not have occurred if the construction had been substituted for the term in the claim limitation. There was also no redundancy between “wireless device capability” and “rendering capability” because wireless devices could have various capabilities.
(1 to 4 stars rate impact of opinion on patent & trademark law)
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TODAY ON THE IP CHAT CHANNEL™: ENFORCEMENT OF ANTI-COUNTERFEITING CLAIMS
Join the IP Chat Channel™ today at 10:00am ET for a webinar that will address emerging enforcement mechanisms for U.S. plaintiffs against Chinese and other foreign defendants, with particular focus on “Schedule A” litigation in U.S. District Court and considerations when pursuing enforcement of U.S. judgments in China based upon reciprocity.
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IP Chat Channel™ webinars are free for IPO members. Advance registration is required. CLE offered in most states.
HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE TO MARK UP REPAIR ACT TODAY
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will hold a markup of H.R. 1566, the Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair (REPAIR) Act, on Tuesday, February 10, at 10:15 a.m. (EST). A markup is a legislative session in which committee members debate, amend, and vote on proposed legislation before determining whether to advance the bill.
The REPAIR Act would require motor vehicle manufacturers to provide vehicle owners and independent repair facilities with access to vehicle repair and diagnostic data on fair and reasonable terms. The markup will determine whether the bill advances to the full House Energy and Commerce Committee for further consideration. It will be live streamed on the Committee website.
EPA ISSUES GUIDANCE ON RIGHT TO REPAIR FOR FARM EQUIPMENT
Recently the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued guidance reaffirming that farmers and equipment owners may repair farm and other nonroad diesel equipment without violating Clean Air Act emissions requirements. While the guidance does not address intellectual property law, it is relevant to broader right-to-repair debates in which manufacturers have raised copyright, trade secret, and software licensing concerns related to access to repair tools, diagnostic data, and embedded software, and is being closely watched by IP owners across multiple industries.
IPOWNERS SPRING SUMMIT™ SPONSOR – TRADESPACE, INC.
Tradespace, Inc. is session sponsor and exhibitor at the IPOwners Spring Summit™ held at The Westin Downtown in Washington, DC. The spring summit is a one-day conference on March 19 for both in-house and outside counsel with a welcome reception on March 18. Education sessions are mixed with networking opportunities including a closing reception on March 19. For more information or to register, visit www.ipo.org/spring2026.
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