The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit last Tuesday affirmed a lower court's decision to dismiss patent claims against Skype and its parent company (for now) eBay relating to uniform network technology. The federal appeals court affirmed without comment the dismissal of claims brought by Peer Communications, a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation, reports Law360. Acacia Research's subisidiaries are in the business (PDF) of acquiring, developing, licensing and enforcing patents, according to its website.