Posts Tagged: "frcp 8"

Patent reform should focus on complaint sufficiency, not substantive patent law

Congress won’t accomplish much, if anything, if it gets mired in the substance of patent law during the inevitable patent reform cycle in the 114th Congress. Similarly, vilifying all innovators as if everyone who owns a patent is somehow evil and a patent troll will only work to divide the industry, and likely divide enough Senators to make getting anything enacted a virtual impossibility. But if Congress decides to focus on process, procedure and non-substantive patent matters like fraudulent and misleading demand letters, real reform is not only possible but likely. Further, by focusing on process and procedure anything that does get done would improve the patent system, won’t harm innovators and would strike a significant blow against the business model employed by the abusers.

YouTube Sued for Patent Infringement

You might suspect that a patent infringement lawsuit between two Delaware LLCs would be litigated in Delaware, which would seem logical. If you made such an assumption you would be incorrect. VideoShare filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. VideoShare alleges that YouTube has used and continues to use VideoShare’s patented technology in products and services that it makes, uses, imports, sells, and offers to sell. VideoShare seeks damages for patent infringement and an injunction preventing YouTube from activities that infringe the technology claimed by U.S. Patent No. 7,987,492. VideoShare has demanded a jury trial.

Canon Sued for Infringing Noise-Reduction Camera Patent

On Friday, September 21, 2012, Canon, Inc. (NYSE: CAJ) was sued for patent infringement by Yama Capital, LLC, which is a limited liability company organized under the laws of the State of Delaware.  The complaint, which alleges Canon infringes U.S. Patent No. 6,069,982 (“the ‘982 patent”) was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The ‘982 patent was originally assigned to Polaroid. According to the complaint, Canon has known about the patent for at least 10 years and believes there is infringement based on certain statements contained in the Canon EOS System Summer 2012 brochure. Specifically, the complaint asserts: “Canon’s website boasts that its digital cameras include noise reduction that produces clear images when shooting in low light at high ISO speeds and advertises its infringing noise-reduction technology as a product differentiator.”

Federal Circuit Grants Writ of Mandamus in False Marking Case

Seeking a writ of mandamus seems as if it is becoming a more popular avenue to pursue than it once might have been. A writ of mandamus essentially seeks an order from a higher court to direct a lower court to follow the law. They are extraordinary remedies because they come well before the case is over, which means that an ordinary appeal cannot be taken at that point; appeals are only typically allowed for final adjudications. Notwithstanding the extraordinary nature of a mandamus request, earlier today the Federal Circuit issued a writ of mandamus requiring a district court to dismiss a false marking lawsuit because the complaint did not contain allegations sufficient to allow the plaintiff to appeal. Essentially, even if each and everything in the complaint were believed the plaintiff could not possibly be entitled to a recovery. Kudos to the Federal Circuit for standing up and getting rid of a frivolous lawsuit initiated by an obviously defective complaint.

Motorola Sues Apple for Patent Infringement With Sparse Complaint

On Wednesday, October 6, 2010, Motorola, Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Motorola Mobility, Inc., filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging that Apple’s iPhone, iPad, iTouch and certain Mac computers infringe Motorola patents. Motorola Mobility also filed concurrent patent infringement complaints against Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) in the Northern District of Illinois (see complaint 1:10-cv-06381 and complaint 1:10-cv-06385) and the Southern District of Florida (see complaint 1:10-cv-23580-UU). The complaints filed in the two federal district courts do little other than identify the patents owned by Motorola that are believed to be infringed by Apple, specifically identifying the following Apple products that might be infringed: Apple iPhone, the Apple iPhone 3G, the Apple iPhone 3GS, the Apple iPhone 4, the Apple iPad, the Apple iPad with 3G, each generation of the Apple iPod Touch, the Apple MacBook, the Apple MacBook Pro, the Apple MacBook Air, the Apple iMac, the Apple Mac mini and the Apple Mac Pro. This type of naked patent infringement complaint has become the standard and seems to directly contradict the requirements set forth by the Supreme Court in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, which required the recitation of specific facts and prohibited mere speculation.