Posts Tagged: "Boston University"

CAFC invalidates Boston University patent claim for lack of enablement

“In sum, Defendants showed that epitaxially growing a monocrystalline layer directly on an amorphous layer would have required undue experimentation—indeed, that it is impossible,” the Federal Circuit found. The appellate court also found that Boston University created its own enablement problem by seeking a construction for “a non-single crystalline buffer layer” which included a purely amorphous layer. Along with reversing the district court’s denial of JMOL, the Federal Circuit dismissed-as-moot Boston University’s cross-appeal of the district court’s denial of attorney’s fees and enhanced damages.

Steve Brachmann

July 31, 2018

Gary Shapiro takes self-righteous stand against patent trolls despite obvious bias in favor of infringers

It is difficult to witness people like Gary Shapiro self-righteously railing against the patent system when they stand to gain from weakened patent rights… Shapiro continues on his defense of the PTAB by noting similarities between patent validity challenges and trials: “Lawyers make their case to the Patent Trials and Appeals Board (PTAB), and three highly qualified administrative patent judges hear their case and come to a decision.” Highly qualified or not, there is at least one administrative patent judge (APJ) who has sat on panels issuing final written decisions on trials petitioned by a former employer, a situation which would require a sua sponte recusal in district court to answer any concerns over potential conflicts of interests. Furthermore, the Patent Office has admitted to stacking PTAB panels so that cases are decided in the manner desired by the Director, which is as difficult to believe as it is stunning. Clearly, the PTAB is not an independent tribunal that exercises decisional independence. The PTAB has also removed pro-patent decisions from its database, refused to consider timely submitted evidence, fundamentally misappled the law of obviousness, determined that an MRI machine is an abstract idea, and blatantly ignoring the law with respect to CBM patents. Shapiro paints a picture of a PTAB that defies experience and simply is not realistic.

Steve Brachmann

August 30, 2017

Caltech’s infringement lawsuit against Apple, Broadcom is latest in university patent suit trend

According to multiple reports, the Caltech patents-in-suit are incorporated into both the 802.11n and 802.11ac wireless connectivity standards, which are used by Apple products to communicate digital information. This latest patent infringement lawsuit is part of a growing trend where universities find themselves forced to file suit in U.S. district courts in order to protect their patent rights. They are forced to sue because those that infringe the patents refuse to take licenses on reasonable terms, they refuse to negotiate, and they refuse even to return calls. They choose to infringe with eyes wide open because they feel like they can. This is the face of what is called efficient infringement.

Gene Quinn & Steve Brachmann

June 14, 2016