Judges can’t rely on common sense alone when analyzing the validity of a patent, an appeals court has ruled in a loss for Apple and Alphabet’s Google, reports Bloomberg.
A U.S. Patent and Trademark Office review board was wrong to use only “common knowledge and common sense” — without more to back it up — to invalidate a patent closely held Arendi S.A.R.L. had asserted against the tech companies, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled.
Arendi S.A.R.L, a a Luxembourg Company, sued Apple in 2011. is suing Apple for patent infringement on three counts. The tech companies asked the patent office to review the validity of the patent, and won before the agency.
Last month the appeals court upheld the board’s decision to invalidate a second Arendi patent. Other challenges are pending before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The civil suits, filed in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, are on hold while all of the patent office petitions are considered, according to Bloomberg.
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