Posts in IPWatchdog Articles

Other Barks & Bites for Friday, December 31: CAFC Moves to Telephonic Hearings, Ikorongo Challenges CAFC Mandamus Ruling at Supreme Court and More

The Federal Circuit issues precedential decisions finding Intel has Article III standing to appeal Qualcomm IPRs from the PTAB; the Federal Circuit announces oral arguments in January 2022 will be telephonic; Germany’s patent office announced that urban air mobility patent application filings have tripled from 2016 to 2020; the PTAB institutes an IPR proceeding on one of two patents involved in VLSI Technologies’ $2.18 billion infringement verdict against Intel; the Japanese government plans to introduce a law paying patent applicants to keep patents covering technologies with potential military applications secret; the Copyright Office ends timing adjustments under its CARES Act authority; Ikorongo Texas files a petition for writ of certiorari asking the Supreme Court to reverse the Federal Circuit’s mandamus ruling transferring a patent infringement case from Western Texas to Northern California; and more.

SEPs in Europe and Beyond: Highlights From 2021

Even as Europe and the rest of the world continued to face the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, the development of 5G and other Standard Essential Patent (SEP)-enabled technology standards has continued at an unabated pace. While the year has not yet ended, more than 100,000 technical contributions have already been submitted at 3GPP meetings for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G in 2021 – a near-record yearly contribution count. The invention and standardization of massive, complex communication technologies continues to generate significant numbers of SEPs. According to IPlytics data, the cumulative number of self-declared SEP families has surpassed 72,000 in 2021, indicating a five-fold increase in just 10 years.

Patent Filings Round-up: IPR on $2.18 Billion VLSI Patent Instituted; IP Edge Filing Patterns Emerge

The post-Christmas filing rush is upon us—a slight dip during the Christmas holiday is normally followed by a end-of-year complaint filing spike, and this year is no different; 72 new filings, most coming just before or after the holiday (with another 50 terminations, as cases settle going into the end of Q4).  There was also a subpar 24 petitions filed (22 IPRs and 2 PGRs).  We are starting to see a trickle of more PGRs, as post-AIA continuation patents issue, currently in litigation, that nonetheless are in the window for the expanded proceedings, but don’t expect ever to rise to much more than a handful every month.  Those IPRs are propped up by further challenges to the now-ubiquitous Fortress IP and Magentar Capital-funded campaigns (here, Scramoge and Netlist) as well as the somewhat-newer funded Staton Techiya LLC campaign [Synergy IP Corp., Staton Capital].  There’s a newish chip campaign against Qualcomm, Apple, Google, and major chip companies by Vector Capital [Future Link Systems]; all in all, a busy holiday period.

The Top 10 Patents of 2021: Improved Eye Contact in Video Calls, Targeted Ads Based on Conversation Samples, and Analyzing Toxicity in Social Media Content

With the close of another year upon us, IPWatchdog is returning to an annual feature with its Top 10 list of issued U.S. patents during 2021. While it’s impossible to produce a definitive list of the ten most important patents in terms of future commercialization, the following list reflects a series of innovations that either represent important advances in burgeoning areas of technology, or practical innovations that address many of the recurring problems that our world has been facing during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. From reducing the awkward nature of Zoom calls, during which it’s impossible to maintain genuine eye contact, to vehicle technologies using Bayesian inference models to predict the lane change behavior of nearby drivers, these patents offer an expansive view of the exciting state of invention during this early stage of the 2020s.

The IP Developments that Mattered: Insiders Shed Light on the Headlines of 2021

The new year is just a few days away, and it is once again time to ponder the biggest moments and events in the world of intellectual property from the previous 12 months. As we do every year, we asked a panel of industry experts for their insights for our Biggest Moments in IP series, which is the longest running series on IPWatchdog.com. This year, while the role of IP and innovation in the COVID-19 pandemic continued to make the cut, other top picks included the Google v. Oracle Supreme Court copyright decision, the Biden Administration’s support for a waiver of IP rights under the Agreement of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for COVID-related technologies, and the administration’s draft language on a new policy statement relating to standard essential patents (SEPs). Here are what this year’s panel of experts identified as the biggest moments in IP for 2021.

Patent Trial and Appeal Board Year in Review: The Top Five PTAB Developments of 2021

Noteworthy 2021 developments at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) were primarily driven by oversight—via the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director, Supreme Court and Federal Circuit—rather than by new rules or policy of the agency. After the highly anticipated Arthrex decision fizzled at the Supreme Court, the most significant 2021 development may be former Director Iancu’s departure and legacy of decidedly pro-patent owner policies. That legacy is increasingly under attack. From the Biden administration’s nomination of a new director, to legislative proposals, to Congressional pushback on Section 314(a) discretionary denials of institution (especially as they relate to the Western District of Texas), to lawsuits challenging the practice as an Administrative Procedures Act violation, change is afoot. The coming year is sure to see recalibration of current PTAB practices.