Posts in IPWatchdog Articles

Amici for Apple Tell SCOTUS Federal Circuit’s Article III Standing Ruling Violates Precedent, Upsets Congressional Intent in Enacting AIA Trials

In mid-November, consumer tech giant Apple filed a petition for writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Federal Circuit’s decision to dismiss Apple’s appeal of unsuccessful inter partes review (IPR) challenges to the validity of several patents owned by Qualcomm. In that ruling, the Federal Circuit found that Apple’s choice to enter a patent licensing agreement with Qualcomm covering the patents-at-issue extinguished Article III standing as to Apple’s appeals from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The question presented by Apple’s petition is: “Whether a licensee has Article III standing to challenge the validity of a patent covered by a license agreement that covers multiple patents.”

This Week in Washington IP: Votes Rescheduled for Stark and Vidal, Examining the Proposed COVID-19 TRIPS Waiver, and Impacts of Electric Vehicle Investments

This week in Washington IP news, following a cancellation last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote this week on a series of nominations from the Biden Administrations to fill vacancies at both the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In the House of Representatives, the Oversight Committee explores possible updates to the Federal Information Security Management Act in light of a spate of cyber attacks on federal agencies, while the Agriculture Committee focuses on the impact of electric vehicle investments in U.S. agriculture and rural communities. Elsewhere, the Federalist Society hosts an event with two former USPTO Directors on the potential impacts of the proposed TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 vaccines, and the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation explores the potential of a national strategic-industry policy in helping the U.S. meet the challenges of its competitive economic rival China.

Federal Circuit Will Soon Hear Case that Threatens the Statutory Presumption Afforded Copyright Registration

On January 13, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) will hear oral argument in SAS Institute, Inc. v. World Programming, Ltd., a copyright infringement suit with far-reaching consequences for American creativity. SAS is a North Carolina-based software company, well known for its highly successful analytics software. World Programming, Ltd (WPL) is a British software company that, by its own admission, set out to “clone” SAS’s creative and popular software. The litigation that followed has been lengthy and stretched from North Carolina to the U.K. and back. While WPL largely prevailed in its home court, the litigation in North Carolina resulted in a verdict that WPL engaged in fraud and unfair and deceptive trade practices. The litigation in North Carolina did not decide the copyright infringement issues, so SAS was forced to file a separate suit, this time in Texas. But the judge in that case made a critical error, which is now on appeal.

New Vision Gaming’s Motion for Reconsideration Highlights Issues with Arthrex USPTO Director Review Mandate

In the last few weeks of 2021, patent owner New Vision Gaming & Development filed a motion for reconsideration  of a remand order issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. That ruling, entered in early December, remanded New Vision Gaming’s appeal of covered business method (CBM) review proceedings back to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) “for the limited purpose” of requesting Director review of the CBM review decisions under the U.S. Supreme Court’s Arthrex standard. New Vision Gaming’s recent motion for reconsideration raises several issues regarding the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) implementation of Director reviews under Arthrex, making this particular case an important one to follow through at least early 2022.

Unified Report: Reexaminations Double; Samsung, Apple and Google Dominate PTAB Filings

Reexaminations continue to gain favor, seeing a 47% increase over last year; the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) sees fewer filings; and filings by non-practicing entities (NPEs) rose by 4%, according to Unified Patents’ 2021 Patent Dispute Report: Year in Review, published earlier this week. The PTAB saw a nearly 12% decline in filings from the previous year, whereas district court proceedings remained unchanged, said the report. It added: “Operating companies filed 5.5% less cases in district court and over 10% less filings at the PTAB.”

Other Barks & Bites for Friday, January 7: ITC Rules Google Audio Players Infringe Sonos Patents, China Bans Most Exclusive Music Licensing Agreements, French Data Regulators Issue Record Fine Against Google

This week in Other Barks & Bites: China unveils its goals for improving IP rights during the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan, even as the country’s copyright administration announces a ban on most exclusive music licensing deals; the Federal Circuit affirms the validity of Novartis patent claims over Chief Judge Moore’s dissent over the majority’s treatment of the written description requirement; the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) rules that Google audio players infringe upon Sonos patents and enters a limited exclusion order against their importation; Senator Tillis announces his intention to vote in favor of confirming Kathi Vidal as USPTO Director; hedge funds shed tech stocks at the highest rate in more than 10 years; Allele settles its patent infringement suit against Pfizer and BioNTech over their development of a COVID-19 vaccine; and French data protection regulators announce fines against American tech firms over their use of tracking cookies, including a record fine against Google.