How Private Investigators Help Patent Litigators
1 Comment » | Page viewed 251 times | Written by James Mintz & Staci DresherPosted: Monday, February 8, 2010 @ 4:02 pm
Posted in: Guest Bloggers, IP News, IPWatchdog.com Blog, Patent Fools™, Patent Litigation

Patent litigation often turns on obscure and long-buried facts, and some private investigative firms are developing expertise that can help patent counsel – on both the defendant and plaintiff sides – find information to support and even shape litigation strategy.
Below are five examples of common problems that patent counsel often face in contemplating, bringing or defending lawsuits, and how investigative firms can help. Think of the cases described below as hypothetical – but we believe they capture how the fact-gathering in actual patent litigation cases can unfold, and how fact-gathering specialists are actually being used.









Last week a patent application on an energy efficient device that provides enhanced copyright protections was published, not surprisingly with Apple, Inc. as the assignee. On Thursday, February 4, 2010, 

On January 21, 2010, the United States District Court for the
EDITOR’S NOTE: President Obama’s recently submitted budget would allow the USPTO to hire 1,000 patent examiners during both FY 2011 and FY 2012. It would also provide an interim fee increase on certain patent fees which is estimated to generate $224 million. There is no mention of fee diversion, but reading between the lines it seems the budget would allow the USPTO to keep all, or at least more, of the fees collected. More to come, but below is a press release issued by the USPTO on February 1, 2010. It is worth a read.
As many undoubtedly know, 
Those who are readers of IPWatchdog.com on a regular basis are familiar with the jousting that goes on in the comments between myself and a core group of patent believers and those who are, shall we say skeptical of the value of patents and would prefer that patents simply not exist, or at least not exist in certain areas, such as software. Without getting into that debate directly here and now allow me to observe that if you are an independent inventor, start-up or small business one successful way to responsibly move forward is to pattern yourself on successful companies. There is no mileage in following the lead of a company in decline, so lessons can be learned by observing successful companies and weaving together a strategy that will lead to market success. Perhaps no other company today so aggressively pursues patents on core technologies and products than Apple, and they enjoy enormous success. So why not take a page from the Apple playbook? Innovate, patent, commercialize and dominate.
Apple, Inc., the tech giant that has revolutionized how we listen to music and the functionality of a cell phone, is now seeking to expand its extremely popular
I have been asked to create a patent curriculum that will have at a minimum 24 credit hours of patent related legal education, perhaps more. As you might expect, I have some ideas about how to fill the curriculum, but thought I might open this up for discussion here to gain the collective thoughts, wisdom and insights of IPWatchdog.com readers.
Last week a
It has been just over two months since the Supreme Court heard
In news that has already spread across the Internet like a wildfire, Eastman Kodak Company has sued Apple, Inc., alleging that Apple infringes numerous Kodak patents associated with the iPhone, iPod Touch and various Mac computers. News reports also indicate that Kodak has sued Research in Motion (RIM), maker of the Blackberry. As yet I have not seen a copy of the complaint filed by Kodak against RIM, but courtesy of the 












