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Examining the Data: Billions to Be Spent on Patent Renewal Fees in 2021 and Beyond
Around $8 billion is set to be spent this year on patent renewals at the top 10 patent offices. That total jumps to a staggering $184 billion due on all …
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Other Barks & Bites for Friday, June 5: China Gains on U.S. in Important Tech Sectors, DMCA Modernization Hearings and Copyright Office Studies State Sovereign Immunity Issues
This week in Other Barks & Bites: a study from Bertelsmann Stiftung shows that China has made great strides in obtaining patents for important tech sectors; the Federal …
U.S. Copyright Office Publishes Federal Register Notice Announcing State Sovereign Immunity Study
On June 3, the U.S. Copyright Office published a Federal Register notice regarding a study it is initiating to “evaluate the degree to which copyright owners are …
Startup and User Reps Square Off with Independent Creators in Panel Two of DMCA Hearing
Earlier this week, the Senate IP Subcommittee met to hear from two panels of witnesses about whether and how to reform the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for …
Fintiv & Thryv Highlight PTAB-District Court Patent Litigation Interplay: Parties Must Heed the Discretionary Denial Trilogy
The establishment of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) forever changed district court patent litigation. Recently, the PTAB’s increased use of its discretionary denial authority …
Clause 8, Episode 19: Sarah Tsou – Patent Litigation Funding
This episode features an interview with Sarah Tsou, who is an investment manager for patent litigation at the world’s leading litigation funder, Bentham IMF (now part …
CAFC Finds Administrative Procedures Act Claims Against USPTO Barred for Lack of Final Agency Action, Statute of Limitations
On May 22, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision in Odyssey Logistics and Technology Corporation v. Iancu in which the …
Patent Filings Roundup: NPE District Court Filings Skyrocket, Target Automotive Industry; Another Fortress/Uniloc IPR Denied Under Director’s Discretion Due to Pending Trial
This week’s 40 new Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) filings—39 inter partes reviews (IPRs) and one post grant review (PGR)—are up slightly from the average, …
District Court Finds Palomar’s ‘Pick and Place’ Patent Invalid Under 101
In a follow-up to a decision earlier this month blocking an attempt by Palomar Technologies, Inc. to bar new prior art references based on IPR estoppel, the …
Navigating Amazon’s Neutral Patent Evaluation in Real Life: Part II
In part one of this series, I outlined the preliminary steps I took on behalf of my client “Bill” to initiate Amazon’s Neutral Patent Evaluation Process. …
Design IP Seeks Experienced Patent Attorney or Agent
Design IP, a small intellectual property boutique law firm located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, seeks a patent attorney or agent to join our growing practice. This is a …
Third Senate IP Subcommittee Hearing on DMCA: The ‘Grand Bargain’ is No Longer Working
In the first part of a two-panel hearing today on whether the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is working for the 21st Century, Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee …
Examining the USPTO’s Patents 4 Partnerships Platform
Intellectual property (IP) is a “bridge to collaboration” between companies, and not just a “weapon of competitive warfare.” The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched …
PTAB Invalidation of Zaxcom Claims to Emmy-Winning Microphone Tech Heads to CAFC
On May 26, Zaxcom filed an appeal brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) requesting review of the Patent Trial and Appeal …
WIPO Revises and Expands AI Policy Issues
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has published a Revised Issue Paper on Artificial Intelligence and IP Policy. The Revised Issues Paper updates the Draft Issues Paper …
This Week in Washington IP: Reconsidering the DMCA Takedown System, Bridging Gaps in Federal Data Privacy Legislation, and Developing Technologies for Inclusive Cities
This week in Washington IP events, the Senate IP Subcommittee convenes a hearing to look at recent recommendations made by the U.S. Copyright Office regarding the …
Twisting Facts to Capitalize on COVID-19 Tragedy: Fortress v. bioMerieux
Unfortunately, some simply cannot help themselves but to use every opportunity – real or imagined – to take a cheap shot at a patent owner for having the audacity …
UPDATED: Global IP Offices Respond to COVID-19
We live in interesting times. No corner of professional or personal life seems untouched in at least some way by the latest coronavirus (named SARS-CoV-2) and the …
3M Targets N95 Respirator Company’s Alleged Price-Gouging Scheme via Trademark Infringement Suit
On April 10, multinational corporation 3M filed a lawsuit alleging trademark infringement claims against N95 respirator distributor Performance Supply, LLC, in the Southern District of New York. Central …
Innovators Rush to Solve Coronavirus Pandemic While Countries Contemplate Compulsory Licensing
Since China announced the first fatality caused by a virus about which little was known at the time, coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, has grown …
Facebook v. Windy City: CAFC Strikes Down PTAB’s Approach to Joinder in IPRs
In Facebook v. Windy City Innovations, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit earlier today ruled that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) …
Federal Circuit Will Not Reconsider Arthrex Appointment Clause Ruling
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has denied rehearing en banc in Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew, a decision that made the Patent Trial …
EU Court Says Amazon Not Liable for Unwitting Third-Party Trademark Infringement
On April 2, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a ruling absolving e-commerce giant Amazon.com of trademark infringement allegations brought by a German …
Senate IP Subcommittee Examines Foreign Approaches to Digital Piracy in Second Hearing on U.S. Copyright Reform
Senate IP Subcommittee Chair, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), yesterday led the second in a series of Subcommittee hearings addressing the possibility of updating the U.S. Digital …
USPTO Urges Supreme Court to Reverse in Now-Delayed Booking.com Case
On March 13, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) filed a reply brief urging the Supreme Court on to reverse a judgment of the U.S. …
Emergency Distance Learning and Fair Use
[A] teacher creates a transformative work, which falls into the protective bubble of Fair Use, when they craft a message, enhance their students’ educational experience, or educate …
German Decision Puts Unified Patent Court Agreement in Jeopardy
Judges in Germany have dealt what may be a fatal blow to the project to create a Unified Patent Court (UPC) in Europe. In a decision published …
Ninth Circuit Alters Its Approach to Assessing Copyright Infringement in Ruling for Led Zeppelin
The en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ultimately sided with Led Zeppelin in a long-running case examining whether the opening notes …
Broadcom Asserts Patents Covering ‘Crucial Aspects’ of Netflix Content Delivery
On March 13, American semiconductor developer Broadcom Corporation filed a lawsuit in the Central District of California alleging claims of patent infringement against streaming media producer and provider …
In Memoriam: Q. Todd Dickinson
It is with tremendous sadness that I write today to say that Q. Todd Dickinson passed away on Sunday, May 3, 2020. As I choke back tears, staring at …
Senator Thom Tillis: If IP Stakeholders Can’t Find Consensus, Congress Can’t Help
Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) arguably has more pressing issues to focus on than intellectual property at the moment, as the nation scrambles to find solutions to the …
Registering your website with the Chinese government?
Doing business in China is exciting and potentially lucrative; however, there are “hidden” traps. Most of these hidden traps have been extensively discussed in the Western world – …
What happens when lifestyle drugs like Viagra and Cialis lose patent protections?
Each year, millions of men rely on pharmaceuticals like Viagra and Cialis for their erectile dysfunction (ED), but they may not be the only ones facing dysfunctionalities. …
The Myth of the 18-Month Delay in Publishing Patent Applications
Starting in November 2000, the USPTO started publishing patent applications 18 months after their earliest filing date. So the simple assumption is that you file a patent and 18 months …
Top Patent Law Firms for 2017
We compiled a list of the top patent firms that are ranked based on the total number of U.S. utility patents that issued in 2017 where the …
Reflections on Taking the Patent Bar Exam
If you are reading this article beyond the title, you are either preparing to take the USPTO’s patent bar exam or you are considering whether you …
Federal Circuit Affirms TTAB Refusal to Register ‘CHURRASCOS’
In a May 13, 2016 decision, the Federal Circuit affirmed a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) decision upholding an Examiner’s denial of registration based on a finding …
Alternate Approaches to the Valuation of Intellectual Property
Techniques for valuing intellectual property continue to develop, especially as access to information becomes easier and more efficient. The practice of valuing intellectual property has only been …
Design Patent Infringement: How to decide if you should sue
First, look at the merits of the infringement claim. They may be stronger than you think, and you can thank a 2008 ruling for that. That year, the …
Top Patent Firms for 2016
A list of the top patent firms that are ranked based on the total number of U.S. utility patents that issued in 2016 where the patent firms …
Beat the Odds: How to Get Your Invention Licensed
Many inventors believe the way to get a company interested in their inventions is to write a letter – and then hope they receive an invitation to begin …
Does University Patent Licensing Pay Off?
Patent licensing or creating new companies is not a get rich quick path for schools despite the occasional blockbuster invention or Google spin-out. Indeed, enriching universities is …
These Are the 20 Hardest and Easiest Art Units
Art Unit 3689 has the lowest allowance rate at 7.7%. Art Unit 3659 has the highest at 98.3%. Oddly enough, these two art units are from the same technology center. It’…
Comic-Con Considerations: Cosplay, the Right of Publicity, and Copyright Concerns
For as much as Comic-Con is about comics, TV, and upcoming movies, it’s not hard to see that a large portion of its allure for fans …
Do Patents Truly Promote Innovation?
Invention, it has been shown, is driven primarily not by genius or happenstance but rather by markets and the expectation of the profit that can be gained …
10 Years Later – A Look at the Efficacy of the Pre-Appeal Brief Conference Program
For 61% of the non-defective requests, the panel decided that there was an actual issue for appeal, such that the applicant would either need to file an Appeal …
The Cost of Obtaining a Patent in the US
Estimating US patent costs is a difficult matter because so much depends on the technology involved, but answering "it depends" is not particularly insightful or helpful. What …
Protecting Ideas: Can Ideas Be Protected or Patented?
Unfortunately, despite what you may have heard from late night television, satellite radio commercials or snake oil salesmen, there is no effective way to protect an idea… …
Patent Searching 101: A Patent Search Tutorial
Inventors and entrepreneurs who are looking to cut costs frequently want to do their own patent search. This is a wise first move, but inventors need to …
The Top 5 Mistakes Inventors make with their Invention
Generally speaking the first step toward commercializing an invention and making money is typically to pursue the patent path. For those new to the industry it is …
Patent Claim Drafting 101: The Basics
When writing a claim it is important to describe how the various components are structured and how the various components interact and connect. First, include a claim …
Moving from Idea to Patent – When Do You Have an Invention?
In order to protect an idea it must mature into an invention first. This means that you need to be able to explain to others how to …
Tricks & Tips to Describe an Invention in a Patent Application
One excellent way to make sure you are including an appropriately detailed description that treats a variety of variations and alternatives is to have many professional patent …
The Law of Recipes: Are Recipes Patentable?
In most cases the typical recipe for a "killer Margarita" or "the best barbeque sauce ever" will not be patentable, but the only way to know for …
Getting Your Invention to Market: Licensing vs. Manufacturing
Of course, whether you are going to pursue licensing or manufacturing, for the first lesson is to realize that there are no tricks to invention marketing. It …
Patent Drawings and Invention Illustrations, What do you Need?
If you are going to file a patent application you must have drawings to include in the application, but patent drawings are not the only type of "…
Good, Bad & Ugly: Truth About Provisional Patent Applications
Whether that provisional patent application can ever be useful moving forward is unknown and unknowable at the time it is filed, which allows for those who knowingly …
Patent Drawings 101: The Way to Better Patent Applications
To properly accomplish the goal of having the best disclosure possible you should also not think in terms of a single patent drawing or illustration, but rather …
Utility Patent Applications – Content and Substance
In order to obtain a utility patent one must file what is referred to as a non-provisional application or a non-provisional utility application. It is called “non-provisional” …
Provisional Patents: What are they and why do you need them?
The first thing to say is this: there is no such thing as a provisional patent. You can, however, file what is known as a provisional patent …
Design Patents: The Under Utilized and Overlooked Patent
Typically an inventor wants to protect the function of the invention when at all possible. But what if you cannot get a utility patent because the underlying …
