Federal Circuit Report

PHILIP EKLEM
Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP

THIS ARTICLE DISCUSSES THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT’S recent opinion in US Synthetic Corp. v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, 128 F.4th 1272 (Fed. Cir. 2025) ("Opinion"), and its application of the presumption of validity under 35 U.S.C. § 282(a) in overturning a determination by the International Trade Commission ("ITC" or "Commission") of patent subject matter ineligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

The ITC Determined Claims to a Polycrystalline Diamond Compact Were Directed to an Abstract Idea

US Synthetic Corp. ("USS") filed a complaint with the ITC alleging violations of 19 U.S.C. § 1337 ("section 337") with respect to imported products containing polycrystalline diamond compacts ("PDC"), such as drill bits, cutters, and bearings, that were alleged to infringe USS’s patents.¹ The Commission instituted an investigation, and the administrative law judge ("ALJ") determined that the asserted claims of USS’s patents were infringed, not invalid under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102, 103 or 112, and that USS satisfied the domestic industry requirement.²