US 10342590

I'll search for information on US Patent 10,342,590 across the USPTO and CAFC docket sources.

I have basic bibliographic data. Now I need the actual claims of US10342590B2 (the search result showing claims was for the related continuation US11278337B2, not this patent) and to check for CAFC 2026 appellate activity.

US Patent 10,342,590 — Summary

Patent identification

• Patent number: US 10,342,590 B2 (application no. 15/236,464)
• Title: Tarsal-metatarsal joint procedure utilizing fulcrum
• Assignee (original/current): Treace Medical Concepts, Inc.
• Inventors (as listed on the patent): F. Barry Bays; Robert D. Santrock; Paul Dayton; Daniel J. Hatch; W. Bret Smith; Carlos Eduardo Gil; Sean F. Scanlan; Joe William Ferguson; John T. Treace
• Filing date: August 14, 2016
• Issue (grant) date: July 9, 2019
• Priority chain: Claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/293,189 (filed Feb. 9, 2016); continuation-in-part of U.S. Application No. 14/981,335 (filed Dec. 28, 2015; issued as US 9,622,805), which claims benefit of Provisional Application No. 62/205,338 (filed Aug. 14, 2015)
• Status: Active; adjusted expiration October 19, 2036
• Earlier publication: US 2017/0042599 A1 (published Feb. 16, 2017)

Sources: Google Patents (patents.google.com/patent/US10342590/en) and uspto.report (uspto.report/patent/grant/10,342,590).

Abstract (verbatim)

"A technique for correcting a bone deformity, such as a bunion, may be performed using a fulcrum. In some examples, the technique involves inserting a fulcrum between a first metatarsal that is anatomically misaligned with respect to a second metatarsal. The technique further includes preparing an end of the first metatarsal and preparing an end of a medial cuneiform opposing the end of the first metatarsal. In addition, a distal portion of the first metatarsal is moved toward the second metatarsal in a transverse plane, thereby pivoting a proximal portion of the first metatarsal about the fulcrum and reducing an intermetatarsal angle between the first metatarsal and the second metatarsal."

Independent claims — plain-language overview

Uncertainty note: I could not retrieve the verbatim text of the granted claims of US 10,342,590 from the sources available to me (the Google Patents claims section was truncated in the fetched text, and search results returned claims of the related continuation US 11,278,337 B2 — not this patent). The overview below is therefore based on the patent's own Summary section, which describes three claim categories, and should not be treated as exact claim language.

1. Method of correcting a bunion deformity (method claim). A surgical technique in which a fulcrum is inserted between a misaligned first metatarsal and a second metatarsal; an end of the first metatarsal and the opposing end of the medial cuneiform are prepared; and the distal portion of the first metatarsal is moved toward the second metatarsal in the transverse plane, causing the proximal portion of the first metatarsal to pivot about the fulcrum and reducing the intermetatarsal angle between the two metatarsals.

2. Fulcrum for a bone realignment procedure (apparatus claim). A fulcrum having a body configured to be inserted into the intermetatarsal space between adjacent metatarsals, and a handle operatively connected to the body, where the handle projects at a non-zero-degree angle from the body to define a tissue retraction space between the handle and the body.

3. Multidimensional fulcrum (apparatus claim). A fulcrum body having a length, a width, and a thickness, with a first end having a first thickness configured for insertion into an intermetatarsal space of a first size, and a second end having a second, greater thickness configured for insertion into an intermetatarsal space of a second size.

Docket / litigation search results

• CAFC 2026 dockets: I found no Federal Circuit (CAFC) 2026 appeal docket associated with patent number 10342590. My searches of CAFC 2026 docket sources returned no matching case. (The user-provided Google Patents record shows an Arizona District Court case, 2:22-cv-00490, but that is a district court matter, not a CAFC appeal.)
• USPTO/PTAB: A PTAB post-grant review, Paragon 28, Inc. v. Treace Medical Concepts, Inc., PGR2026-00020, cites US 10,342,590 (as Patent Owner Exhibit 2005). This is a P.T.A.B. proceeding, not a CAFC docket (source: docketalarm.com PTAB PGR2026-00020).

Bottom line: The bibliographic data and abstract are well corroborated. The exact independent-claim wording could not be verified from authoritative sources in this session, so treat the claim overview as a faithful paraphrase of the Summary-based claim categories rather than verbatim granted claims.

Litigation Involving US Patent 10,342,590 ("the '590 patent")

Based on searches of district court, PTAB, and press-release sources, I identified one district court case in which the '590 patent was specifically asserted, plus one active PTAB proceeding in which the '590 patent is in evidence (but is not itself the challenged patent). I found no CAFC appeal docketed for the '590 patent.

1. Treace Medical Concepts, Inc. v. Fusion Orthopedics, LLC

• Plaintiff: Treace Medical Concepts, Inc.
• Defendant: Fusion Orthopedics, LLC
• Jurisdiction: U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
• Case number: 2:22-cv-00490
• Filing date: March 29, 2022
• Allegations: Patent, trademark, and copyright infringement plus unfair-competition/false-advertising claims based on Fusion's LapiLock 4D Advanced Bunion Surgery system. The complaint expressly invokes the '590 patent: the complaint analysis for this case quotes "('590 Patent, Claim 1)" for the fulcrum-method claim (inserting a fulcrum between the first and second metatarsals, moving the distal portion of the first metatarsal, pivoting the proximal portion about the fulcrum), and alleges Fusion's original LapiLock procedure instructed use of a "fulcrum" (later renamed "spacer") practicing the claimed method. Fusion counterclaimed for declaratory judgment of non-infringement and invalidity of the patents.
• Outcome/status: Settled and closed. The parties jointly announced an amicable resolution in early March 2023 (press release dated March 2, 2023; settlement terms confidential). The docket is marked Closed.

Sources: BusinessWire press release ("Dispute Between Treace Medical and Fusion Orthopedics Resolved," Mar. 2, 2023); Ex Parte case/docket analysis for 2:22-cv-00490 (citing "Compl. ¶¶37, 188, 254" and "'590 Patent, Claim 1"); ai-lab.exparte.com case page for 2:22-cv-00490 (Status: Closed).

2. Paragon 28, Inc. v. Treace Medical Concepts, Inc., PGR2026-00020 (P.T.A.B.)

• Petitioner: Paragon 28, Inc.
• Patent Owner: Treace Medical Concepts, Inc.
• Jurisdiction: Patent Trial and Appeal Board (post-grant review)
• Case number: PGR2026-00020
• Filing date: Petition filed late 2025 / notice of filing date accorded January 2026 (Patent Owner's Discretionary Denial Brief filed March 4, 2026)
• Relationship to the '590 patent: The '590 patent is Patent Owner Exhibit 2005 in the proceeding (U.S. Patent No. 10,342,590 to Bays et al., "the '590 Patent"). The patent actually challenged in PGR2026-00020 is U.S. Patent No. 12,268,428, not the '590 patent. The '590 patent is cited as evidence in the broader dispute (likely as family/priority-chain context for Treace's Lapiplasty® technology).
• Status: Pending (pre-institution; discretionary-denial briefing ongoing).

Source: Docket Alarm, PGR2026-00020 exhibit list (Ex. 2005 = U.S. Patent No. 10,342,590).

Related dispute context (do NOT confuse with direct '590 litigation)

• Treace Medical Concepts, Inc. v. Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. and Paragon 28, Inc., C.A. No. 1:25-cv-00592-GBW (D. Del.) — Treace's currently active infringement suit. Per the parties' PTAB mandatory notices (e.g., IPR2026-00194, PGR2026-00031), Treace has asserted U.S. Patent Nos. 12,268,397, 12,268,428, 12,274,481, 12,349,941, and 12,102,368 in that case. The '590 patent (10,342,590) is not among the patents asserted in the Delaware case, so that case is not "litigation involving" the '590 patent in the assertion sense. It is, however, part of the same product/technology family and is the subject of the related Paragon PGR/IPR petitions.
• CAFC: No Federal Circuit appeal docket associated with the '590 patent was identified in any search.

Bottom line

The only district court litigation specifically asserting US 10,342,590 is Treace v. Fusion Orthopedics (D. Ariz. 2:22-cv-00490), filed March 29, 2022 and settled/closed in March 2023. The only other current proceeding touching the '590 patent is PGR2026-00020 (PTAB), where it appears as an exhibit (Ex. 2005) rather than as the challenged patent. No CAFC appeal for 10342590 was found.

Caveat: I verified the '590 patent's presence in the Fusion complaint through a third-party complaint analysis (Ex Parte/ai-lab) that quotes "'590 Patent, Claim 1," rather than the original complaint docket text itself; the BusinessWire settlement release corroborates the case caption, date, and settlement but does not enumerate the asserted patents. If you need definitive confirmation of the full asserted-patent list in 2:22-cv-00490, the PACER docket for that case (now closed) would be the authoritative source.