Knauf Insulation, Inc. v. Rockwool International A/S ( 2019 )


Menu:
  •        NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.
    United States Court of Appeals
    for the Federal Circuit
    ______________________
    KNAUF INSULATION, INC., KNAUF INSULATION
    SPRL,
    Appellants
    v.
    ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S,
    Cross-Appellant
    ______________________
    2018-1810, 2018-1811, 2018-1891
    ______________________
    Appeals from the United States Patent and Trademark
    Office, Patent Trial and Appeal Board in Nos. 95/000,672,
    95/000,675.
    ______________________
    Decided: October 15, 2019
    ______________________
    JOSHUA PAUL LARSEN, Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Indi-
    anapolis, IN, argued for appellants.
    DAVID CLAY HOLLOWAY, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stock-
    ton LLP, Atlanta, GA, argued for cross-appellant. Also rep-
    resented by COURTNEY DABBIERE, DEAN W. RUSSELL,
    TIFFANY L. WILLIAMS.
    ______________________
    2    KNAUF INSULATION, INC. v. ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S
    Before DYK, LINN, and TARANTO, Circuit Judges.
    LINN, Circuit Judge
    In this inter partes reexamination (“reexamination”)
    the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) held that
    claims 16–22 of Knauf’s U.S. Pat. No. 7,888,445 and claims
    29–32 of Knauf’s U.S. Pat. No. 7,772,347 (collectively, “ap-
    pealed claims”) were obvious, and that claims 1-15 of the
    ’445 patent and claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 7–12, 14–18, and 22–28 of
    the ’347 patent (collectively, “cross-appealed claims”) are
    not unpatentable as obvious. Rockwool Int’l A/S v. Knauf
    Insulation LLC, App. No. 2015-001313 (P.T.A.B. May 1,
    2015) (“’445 Board Op. I”); Rockwool Int’l A/S v. Knauf In-
    sulation LLC, App. No. 2015-004826 (P.T.A.B. Sept. 8,
    2017) (“’445 Board Op. II”); Rockwool Int’l A/S v. Knauf
    Insulation LLC, App. No. 2015-004826 (P.T.A.B. Feb. 12,
    2018) (“’445 Reh’g Op.”); Rockwool Int’l A/S v. Knauf Insu-
    lation LLC, App. No. 2015-001256 (P.T.A.B. May 1, 2015)
    (“’347 Board Op. I”); Rockwool Int’l A/S v. Knauf Insula-
    tion LLC, App. No. 2015-004910 (P.T.A.B. Sept. 8, 2017)
    (“’347 Board Op. II”); Rockwool Int’l A/S v. Knauf Insula-
    tion LLC, App. No. 2015-004910 (P.T.A.B. Feb. 12, 2018)
    (“’347 Reh’g Op.”).
    On direct appeal, Knauf contests the Board’s conclu-
    sion of obviousness of the appealed claims. Because sub-
    stantial evidence does not support the combination of
    references relied on by the Board solely based on the simi-
    larity of their disclosed reactions, we vacate the Board’s de-
    termination that the appealed claims were obvious and
    remand for further consideration. On cross-appeal, Rock-
    wool contests the Board’s conclusions of non-obviousness of
    the cross-appealed claims. Because Rockwool lacks stand-
    ing to assert a cross-appeal, we dismiss the cross-appeal.
    KNAUF INSULATION, INC. v. ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S             3
    I
    A
    Turning first to the direct appeal. The Board held that
    the appealed claims were obvious, inter alia, because an
    ordinary artisan would have combined the Wallace (U.S.
    Pat. No. 2,215,825), Worthington (U.S. Pat. No. 3,513,001),
    and Helbing (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2005/020224) references
    because of the similarity of their disclosed chemical reac-
    tions. ’445 Board Op. I at 28–32.
    None of the three references explicitly teach that the
    disclosed reactions are Maillard reaction or disclose that
    the result of the reactions are melanoidin products. More-
    over, Knauf contends that Worthington and Wallace do not
    inherently teach a Maillard reaction because Worthington
    does not teach all the necessary components in a solution,
    Knauf Br. at 39, and both Wallace and Worthington indi-
    cate that the reactions occurring are between different re-
    actants than the Maillard reaction. We conclude that the
    Board’s determination that Worthington and Wallace in-
    herently teach Maillard reactions is supported by substan-
    tial evidence. As the ’445 patent explains, the essentials
    for a Maillard reaction are an amine component and a re-
    ducing sugar (or a non-sugar carbonyl reactant), see ’445
    patent, Fig. 1; id. at col. 2, ll. 42–44; id. at col. 2, ll. 60–64;
    id. at col. 10, ll. 32–43, both of which are indisputably
    taught in Wallace and Worthington. As the Board correctly
    noted, “the presence of all reactants recited in the claims
    and in substantial amounts [make it] reasonable to con-
    clude that the Maillard reaction took place” in Wallace and
    Worthington. ’445 Board Op. II at 18.
    As the Board noted, however, Wallace and Worthing-
    ton do not teach the use of their reactions as binders for
    “mineral fibers and/or glass fibers,” a “silicon-containing
    4       KNAUF INSULATION, INC. v. ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S
    coupling agent,” 1 or “an initially alkaline [] solution,” as re-
    quired by the claims, and for which the Board relied on Hel-
    bing. Knauf does not contest that Helbing teaches a
    binding for fiberglass, using a silicon-containing coupling
    agent, in an initially alkaline solution, and teaches that
    one of the reactants can be an ammonium salt of a polycar-
    boxylic acid. The Board reasoned that selecting “a reducing
    sugar as a polyhydroxy component would have been sug-
    gested by Worthington and Wallace which have similar re-
    actants to Helbing (i.e. polycarboxylic acid and ammonia).”
    ’445 Board Op. I at 27. See also id. at 31 (“Each of
    Worthington and Wallace describe using a carbohydrate in
    a reaction similar to the reaction of Helbing. Conse-
    quently, it would have been obvious [to have] utilized a car-
    bohydrate in Helbing as an exemplification of a
    polyhydroxy compound.”). We conclude that a finding of a
    motivation to combine based on similarity of the references
    in this case is unsupported by substantial evidence.
    Helbing only explicitly teaches reactions in which a pol-
    yhydroxy component interacts with a polyacid component
    to form a polyester resin. Helbing, Abstract; id. at ¶ 11
    (“Thus, a polyacid component has been found to be capable
    of reacting with a polyhydroxy component, under alkaline,
    aqueous conditions in the absence of a catalyst, to form a
    polyester resin.”); id. at ¶ 17 (“In one aspect, the polyacid
    component is sufficiently nonvolatile to maximize its abil-
    ity to remain available for reaction with the polyhydroxy
    component. The polyacid component may be substituted
    with other chemical functional groups. It is appreciated
    that other functional groups are selected to minimize their
    interference with the preparation or formation of the poly-
    ester resin.”); id. at ¶ 19 (“In one aspect, the polyhydroxy
    component is sufficiently nonvolatile to maximize its
    1    The “silicon-containing coupling agent” limitation
    is not included in claims 29–32 of the ’347 patent.
    KNAUF INSULATION, INC. v. ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S           5
    ability to remain available for reaction with the polyacid
    component.”). The only guidance provided in Helbing for
    selecting the polyhydroxy component is that it retain its
    ability to react with the polyacid component; Helbing does
    not teach any reaction between the polyhydroxy and an
    amine, much less between a carbonyl containing compo-
    nent and an amine, as required for the Maillard reaction.
    Rather, Helbing teaches the use of ammonia only as a car-
    rier for the polyacid, to neutralize the polyacid component,
    or to act as a catalyst; Helbing does not indicate that the
    ammonia itself is important as a reactant. See id. at ¶ 8,
    20, 27.
    In other words, Helbing teaches a reaction with the
    general form:
    Polyhydroxy + Polyacid  Polyester Resin
    [under certain conditions, including in the presence
    of ammonia]
    The Maillard reaction, as described in the ’445 and ’347
    patents and as held to be inherently disclosed in Wallace
    and Worthington, is:
    Reducing Sugar (or other carbonyl containing com-
    ponent) + Ammonia  Melanoidins
    The Maillard reaction in the ’445 and ’347 patents also in-
    cludes a polyacid component, but that acts primarily as a
    carrier for the ammonia, rather than as a discrete reactant.
    See ’445 patent, col. 2, ll. 42-59 (describing basics of the
    Maillard reaction and noting an option to use the ammo-
    nium salt of a polycarboxylic acid); id., col. 10, ll. 32–43 (de-
    scribing Maillard reactions, and noting that “the
    carbohydrate reactant and the amine reactant are the mel-
    anoidin reactants for a Maillard reaction”). The reactions
    taught in Worthington and Wallace similarly emphasize
    the importance of the amine in creating the binding. See
    Worthington at col. 2, ll. 47–61; Wallace at col. 1, ll. 42–49.
    6    KNAUF INSULATION, INC. v. ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S
    These reactions are not similar enough to constitute
    the sole reason to combine a mosaic of disclosures from
    each reference to reach the claimed invention. The fact
    that both Wallace/Worthington and Helbing teach a reac-
    tion with ammonia and a polycarboxylic acid in some form
    on the left side of the reaction equation does not alone sug-
    gest to an ordinary artisan that the various other compo-
    nents in the reactions would be interchangeable. The
    Board engaged in no analysis of the functional role played
    by each component in the reactions. Nor did the Board find
    any suggestion that a reducing sugar could or should take
    the place of the polyhydroxy in Helbing’s reaction. Replac-
    ing Helbing’s polyhydroxy component with a reducing
    sugar to engage a Maillard reaction would fundamentally
    change the nature of the reaction taught in Helbing. The
    key reaction in such a combination would no longer be the
    polyhydroxy compound interacting with the polyacid com-
    pound to create a polyester resin—it would be the reducing
    sugar interacting with the ammonia. The ammonia taught
    in Helbing as a catalyst or carrier for the polyacid would
    thus become a key reactant—there is no reason that an or-
    dinary artisan would make such a fundamental change
    based on “similarity.”
    The references only appear similar if a reducing sugar
    is first selected as the polyhydroxy component in Helbing.
    But the similarity between Helbing and Worthington/Wal-
    lace cannot itself lead an ordinary artisan to see the simi-
    larity. This is classic hindsight bias in light of the claimed
    invention. See W.L. Gore & Assocs., Inc. v. Garlock, Inc.,
    
    721 F.2d 1540
    , 1552–53 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (exclaiming that
    that using the claims “as a frame,” and taking the “naked
    parts of separate prior art references [] as a mosaic to rec-
    reate a facsimile of the claimed invention” without a find-
    ing of why ordinary artisans would have found that mosaic
    obvious, improperly employs hindsight bias). Helbing crit-
    ically lacks any disclosure of using a reducing sugar as the
    disclosed “polyhydroxy component.” As noted above, the
    KNAUF INSULATION, INC. v. ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S        7
    reason for the polyhydroxy component in Helbing was not
    as a reducing agent, but to dedicate the hydroxy group as
    a reactant with polyvinyl alcohol—a reaction that indisput-
    ably does not lead to a Maillard reaction nor melanoidin
    products. Indeed, the Board relied on the hydroxy as the
    reactive group in Helbing in support of the similarity of the
    references. ’445 Board Op. II at 16 (explaining that Hel-
    bing’s characterization of the reactant as a “polyhydroxy”
    compound implied that the reactive group was the hydroxy
    group, “providing evidence that the same chemical reac-
    tions in Worthington and Wallace using the hydroxy group
    of a reducing sugar would take place in Helbing because
    the remaining reactants are the same.”). But this reason-
    ing is inconsistent with the Board’s finding that the reac-
    tion in Helbing is similar to the Maillard reaction taught
    in Wallace/Worthington. The Maillard reaction reactive
    group is not the hydroxy group, but the carbonyl group (i.e.
    a ketone or aldehyde). ’445 patent, col. 9, ll. 58–62. If Hel-
    bing’s disclosure implies that the reactive group is a hy-
    droxy, then Helbing’s teaching is directed to a reaction
    other than a Maillard reaction.
    Although a reference may be used for everything it
    teaches, e.g. using a polyhydroxy component, the Board did
    not identify any suggestion in Helbing to use a reducing
    sugar as the polyhydroxy component. That genus includes
    any compound with two or more hydroxy components—an
    enormous genus with compounds having many distinct
    chemical properties and potential types of reactions. In-
    deed, the only guidance in Helbing for selecting the poly-
    hydroxy component is that it is “sufficiently nonvolatile to
    maximize its ability to remain available for reaction with
    the polyacid component.” Helbing at ¶ 19.
    That a reducing sugar is a member of that genus does
    not render Helbing sufficiently similar to Wal-
    lace/Worthington to provide an ordinary artisan with a rea-
    son to cherry-pick components from each reaction to lead
    to the claimed invention. It is not enough, even after KSR,
    8    KNAUF INSULATION, INC. v. ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S
    to support a determination of obviousness that a reference
    includes a broad generic disclosure and a common utility to
    that in the claims and other prior art references—there
    must be some reason to select a species from the genus. See
    In re Jones, 
    958 F.3d 347
    , 350–51 (Fed. Cir. 1992); Takeda
    Chem. Indus., Ltd. V. Alphapharm Pty., Ltd., 
    492 F.3d 1350
    , 1356–57 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (noting that KSR “acknowl-
    edged the importance of identifying ‘a reason that would
    have prompted a person of ordinary skill in the relevant
    field to combine the elements in the way the claimed new
    invention does’” (discussing and quoting KSR Int’l Co. v.
    Teleflex Inc., 
    550 U.S. 398
    , 418 (2007)). The key reactants,
    nature of the reactions, and products of the reactions
    taught in Helbing and Wallace/Worthington are distinct.
    The alleged similarity of the references does not support
    the conclusion that an ordinary artisan would find it obvi-
    ous to replace the polyhydroxy component in Helbing with
    a reducing sugar (thus changing the fundamental teaching
    of Helbing). The apparent similarity between the prior art
    references, upon which the Board relied to motivate their
    combination, is an illusion built upon hindsight bias. In
    this case, the references are not so similar such that an or-
    dinary artisan would read from their shared purpose and
    two common reactants that they could be combined to cre-
    ate the claimed invention.
    The lack of similarity between the references under-
    mines the Board’s finding that an ordinary artisan would
    combine their teachings to use the alkaline solution, use of
    the binder with fiberglass, and use the silicon-containing
    coupling agent of Helbing with the Maillard reaction inher-
    ently taught in Worthington/Wallace. Because the similar-
    ity of the references was the Board’s only reason for
    combining the references, we vacate the Board’s determi-
    nation of obviousness based solely on the similarity of the
    cited references and remand for further proceedings.
    KNAUF INSULATION, INC. v. ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S        9
    B
    Knauf also contests the Board’s finding that the combi-
    nation inherently discloses the quantity limitations found
    in several of the appealed claims.
    All of the appealed claims have a quantity limitation
    for the amount of binder that is melanoidin. For example,
    claim 16 of the ’445 patent requires that “substantially all
    of the polymer that binds the mat of mineral fibers and/or
    glass fibers is melanoidin products.” J. App’x 2191
    (Amended Claims). 2 In concluding that this limitation was
    inherently disclosed by the combination of Worthington,
    Wallace, and Helbing, the Board: (1) noted that “Patent
    Owner has not explained what amount of non-melanoidin
    is permitted by these claims,” ’445 Patent Bd. Op. II at 52,
    and therefore that any amount above a trace or impurity
    amount would satisfy the claim limitation; (2) found that
    “Patent Owner has not established with adequate evidence
    that the amounts of melanoidin produced in Worthington,
    Wallace, and Helbing are only trace amounts,” id. at 17;
    and (3) explained that because “Worthington describes the
    recited amounts of carbohydrate, as well as ammonium
    (and other amine) and polycarboxylic acid” in the claims,
    ’445 Patent Bd. Op. II at 18, the combination with Helbing
    and Wallace would necessarily meet the same quantity
    limitations as claimed. The Board erred.
    First, the term “substantially all” in claim 16 (and the
    quantity limitations in the other claims) means what it
    says. The Board may not ignore this limitation or rewrite
    it to mean “at greater than impurity levels.” See id. at 17
    (“The evidence in this record . . . is sufficient to find, for
    example, that ‘the melanoidin products are present at
    greater than impurity levels in the polymer.’”).
    2   Other appealed claims include different quantity
    limitations, which the Board should consider on remand.
    10   KNAUF INSULATION, INC. v. ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S
    It is inapposite that the “’’445 patent is silent as to the
    amounts, if any, of permitted side-reactants,” id. at 17, be-
    cause the claims do require a particular amount of mela-
    noidin products in the binder. Even if the Board were
    correct that the combination of Wallace, Worthington, and
    Helbing inherently taught “greater than impurity levels” of
    melanoidin as claimed in claim 19, this would not support
    a conclusion that the significantly narrower “substantially
    all” limitation of claim 16 was inherently satisfied.
    Second, it was not Patent Owner’s burden to establish
    that the inherent result of the reaction in the combination
    of Worthington, Wallace, and Helbing was not “substan-
    tially all” melanoidin—it was Petitioner’s burden to prove
    that every limitation in the claim was found in the prior
    art, either inherently or explicitly.
    Finally, the Board did not point to substantial evidence
    showing that executing the reaction in Worthington would
    produce a binder comprising “substantially all . . . mela-
    noidin products.” Worthington nowhere indicates the com-
    position of the resulting binder. This lack is not cured
    merely because, like the claims, Worthington “describes
    the recited amounts of carbohydrate,” greater than trace
    amounts of ammonium, and polycarboxylic acid. Id. at 18.
    That a prior art reference satisfies these limitations in the
    reactants is not enough to allow the Board to find inher-
    ency in the products of the reaction, unless there is evi-
    dence that any reaction meeting these quantity of reactant
    limitations would result in the quantity of product limita-
    tion. See Continental Can Co. USA, Inc. v. Monsanto Co.,
    
    948 F.3d 1264
    , 1269 (Fed. Cir. 1991) (quoting In re Oelrich,
    
    666 F.2d 578
    , 581 (C.C.P.A. 1981)) (“Inherency, however,
    may not be established by probabilities or possibilities. The
    mere fact that a certain thing may result from a given set
    of circumstances is not sufficient.”).
    We therefore vacate the Board’s holding that claims 16-
    22 of Knauf’s ’445 patent and claims 29-32 of Knauf’s ’347
    KNAUF INSULATION, INC. v. ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S      11
    patent are obvious, and remand for further proceedings
    consistent with this opinion.
    II
    On cross-appeal, we turn first to the preliminary mat-
    ter of Rockwool’s standing to invoke the jurisdiction of this
    court to challenge the Board’s holding of no invalidity with
    respect to the cross-appealed claims. It is uncontested that
    Rockwool properly participated in the reexamination un-
    der 
    35 U.S.C. § 311
     (pre-AIA). However, “once a party
    seeks review in a federal court, ‘the Constitutional require-
    ment that it have standing kicks in.’” Consumer Watchdog
    v. Alumni Res. Found’n, 
    753 F.3d 1258
    , 1261 (Fed. Cir.
    2014) (quoting Sierra Club v. E.P.A., 
    292 F.3d 895
    , 899
    (D.C. Cir. 2002)). The “requirement of injury in fact is a
    hard floor of Article III jurisdiction that cannot be removed
    by statute.” Summers v. Earth Island Inst., 
    555 U.S. 488
    ,
    497 (2009); Consumer Watchdog, 753 F.3d at 1261. “The
    party invoking federal jurisdiction must have ‘a personal
    stake in the outcome.’” Consumer Watchdog, 753 F.3d at
    1261 (quoting Los Angeles v. Lyons, 
    461 U.S. 95
    , 101
    (1983)).
    Rockwool has not pointed to any evidence showing a
    case or controversy between the parties with respect to the
    cross-appealed claims. Rather, Rockwool asserts that we
    have jurisdiction over Rockwool’s cross-appeal because: (1)
    Rockwool was involved in the reexamination process and if
    we affirm the cross-appealed claims, “the parties will be
    forced to return to the Patent Office and participate in fur-
    ther proceedings”; (2) our jurisdictional statute, 
    28 U.S.C. § 1295
    (a)(4)(A), gives this Court exclusive jurisdiction over
    appeals from the Board “at the instance of a party who ex-
    ercised that party’s right to participate in the applicable
    proceeding before or appeal to the Board”; and (3) a cross-
    appeal is proper under Bailey v. Dart Container Corp. of
    Mich., 
    292 F.3d 1360
    , 1362 (Fed. Cir. 2002) whenever “a
    party seeks to enlarge its own rights under the judgment
    12   KNAUF INSULATION, INC. v. ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S
    or to lessen the rights of its adversary under the judgment,”
    which allegedly occurred here. Rockwool also notes that
    “the Court generally finds jurisdiction in appeals and cross-
    appeals from Board decisions.” Rockwool Reply Br. at 4.
    Although Rockwool has standing to participate in the
    direct appeal to defend the Board’s decision with respect to
    the directly appealed claims, see Personal Audio, LLC v.
    Elec. Frontier Found., 
    867 F.3d 1246
    , 1249–50 (Fed. Cir.
    2017), Rockwool has failed to establish that it has suffered
    an injury in fact for purposes of maintaining a cross-ap-
    peal. This conclusion is dictated by the straightforward ap-
    plication of this Court’s holding in Consumer Watchdog,
    
    753 F.3d 1258
    . There, Consumer Watchdog requested
    reexamination of a patent generally directed to human em-
    bryonic stem cell cultures. Id. at 1260. After the Board
    affirmed the patentability of the claims, Consumer Watch-
    dog appealed. Consumer Watchdog did not allege any in-
    volvement in research or commercial activities in the stem
    cell field, nor that it was or intended to be a competitor of
    the patentee or licensee of the patent; instead, Consumer
    Watchdog relied on “the Board’s denial of Consumer
    Watchdog’s requested administrative action—namely, the
    Board’s refusal to cancel” the claims at issue. Id. at 1261.
    We held that a party’s interest in a desired outcome on
    reexamination did not confer standing because Consumer
    Watchdog was afforded everything to which it was enti-
    tled—an opportunity to request reexamination and partic-
    ipate—and that Congress’s grant of the procedural right to
    appeal the Board’s findings to the Federal Circuit did not
    eliminate the requirement that appellant have standing to
    exercise that procedural right. Id. at 1262.
    KNAUF INSULATION, INC. v. ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S       13
    Like Consumer Watchdog, Rockwool does not allege
    that it is a current or prospective competitor of Knauf, 3 or
    assert anything apart from its past and future involvement
    in the reexamination at the PTO. Rockwool also does not
    allege any action by Knauf that would create standing for
    Rockwool beyond the continued presence of the patent after
    reexamination. Just as in Consumer Watchdog, this is not
    enough to satisfy the standing requirement. Moreover, just
    as the procedural right to appeal a Board decision under 
    35 U.S.C. § 315
    (b) did not confer standing on Consumer
    Watchdog, so to this Court’s jurisdictional grant under 
    28 U.S.C. § 1295
    (a)(4)(A) does not eliminate the standing re-
    quirement. There is no inconsistency between this Court
    having exclusive jurisdiction over appeals from the Board
    and this Court’s refusal to exercise its jurisdiction to pro-
    vide an advisory opinion at the behest of a third-party with-
    out standing.
    In this context, the grant of a reexamination certificate
    is similar to the initial grant of a patent. It is well-estab-
    lished that having an issued patent does not itself confer
    jurisdiction on anyone wishing to challenge its validity.
    See Consumer Watchdog, 753 F.3d at 1262. Cf. Hewlett-
    Packard Co. v. Acceleron LLC, 
    587 F.3d 1358
    , 1362 (Fed.
    Cir. 2009) (noting that even after MedImmune, Inc. v.
    Genentech, Inc., 
    549 U.S. 118
    , 127 (2007), a declaratory
    judgment plaintiff must still show that the dispute is “def-
    inite and concrete, touching the legal relations of parties
    having adverse legal interests” and holding that a patent
    owner’s communication to another party “merely identify-
    ing its patent and the other party’s product line, without
    more, cannot establish adverse legal interests between the
    parties” sufficient to support declaratory judgment
    3   We need not and do not make any determination
    about whether such an allegation would be sufficient in
    and of itself to confer Article III standing on Rockwool.
    14    KNAUF INSULATION, INC. v. ROCKWOOL INTERNATIONAL A/S
    jurisdiction). The grant of a reexamination certificate, sim-
    ilarly, without more, cannot alone satisfy the standing re-
    quirement.
    Rockwool attempts to distinguish Consumer Watchdog
    because “it has indicated its intent to continue proceedings
    seeking to cancel the Cross-Appeal Claims at the Patent
    Office,” Rockwool Reply Br. at 3, which renders its position
    more than “a general grievance.” See Consumer Watchdog,
    753 F.3d at 1263. Just as Rockwool’s current engagement
    with the PTO cannot itself create standing, it’s future
    pressing of its claims also cannot itself create standing
    here. The burden of participating in a hypothetical future
    inter partes reexamination does not itself constitute an in-
    jury-in-fact sufficient to confer standing here.
    Rockwool is also incorrect that it’s Cross-Appeal is
    proper under Bailey v. Dart Container Corp. of Mich., 
    292 F.3d 1360
    , 1362 (Fed. Cir. 2002). In Bailey, this Court
    stated that “[i]t is only necessary and appropriate to file a
    cross-appeal when a party seeks to enlarge its own rights
    under the judgment or to lessen the rights of its adversary
    under the judgment.” 
    Id.
     That statement was made in the
    context of determining when a cross-appeal, as contrasted
    with an alternative ground for affirmance, is proper. Bai-
    ley could not and did not create a rule disregarding Consti-
    tutional standing requirements for cross-appeals.
    Rockwool’s cross-appeal is therefore dismissed for lack
    of standing.
    VACATED-IN-PART, DISMISSED-IN-PART, AND
    REMANDED
    COSTS
    No costs.