Ordinary Skills No Longer Presumed Ordinary: The Federal Circuit’s Return to Congressional Intent for “Means Plus Function” Claims

East Palo Alto  partner Paul Grewal and associate Jonathan Marshall co-authored an article which was featured in the recent Intellectual Property Litigation Reporter.

“At first glance, the Federal Circuit’s recent decisions in the area of means-plus-function claims appear to be a radi­cal and even illegitimate shift toward requiring greater and more specific disclosure to preserve claim validity. But a closer inspection reveals that these decisions, most recently in Blackboard Inc. v. Desire2Learn Inc., represent nothing more than a return to Congress’ original, narrow intent for functional claiming. Far from being radical, Blackboard and its kin thus represent the Federal Circuit’s return to its proper judicial role.”