By Kevin E. Noonan — The Federal Circuit today appealed determinations by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in an inter partes review in American National Manufacturing v. Sleep Number Corp., in an opinion by Judge Cunningham. The opinion was not Judge Cunningham’s first Federal Circuit opinion but it is likely to be her shortest, coming in at 862 words (including footnotes).* The patent, U.S. Patent No. 5,904,172, was challenged over claims 2, 4, 6, 12, 16, 20, 22, and 24. The opinion sets forth no representative claim but claim 2 will suffice to understand the Court’s decision here:…
