Unhappiness festers over Festo

Strong wording in a recent patent infringement ruling issued by Judge William Young in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts highlights ongoing dissatisfaction with the Federal Circuit Court's recent Festo decision that limits the use of the doctrine of equivalents to protect patents.

Although Young applied Festo in making his ruling, his unhappiness echoed the opinions of four Federal Circuit judges who dissented from Festo and suggests that the U.S. Supreme Court could find issues worth considering. As it happens, the parties in the Festo case last week filed a petition and other briefs with the Supreme Court, giving the high court an opportunity to decide whether it will review the Federal Circuit's opinion...