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Other Barks & Bites, Friday, January 17: IP Provisions in Partial U.S.-China Trade Deal Are a Boon for Pharma, IBM Joins LOT Network, and Alphabet Hits $1 Trillion Market Cap
This week in Other Barks & Bites: The new China-U.S Trade Deal offers stronger patent dispute mechanism for drug companies; IBM joins LOT Network and tops the …
Ninth Circuit Set to Clarify Aesthetic Functionality Doctrine
A case now pending before the Ninth Circuit, LTTB LLC v. Redbubble, Inc., Docket No. 19-16464, has the potential to clarify the controversial doctrine of aesthetic functionality. …
Intellectual Property Owners Association Seeks IP Policy Counsel
Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) is seeking an IP Policy Counsel. The candidate selected will report to the Executive Director and work closely with the Deputy Executive …
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WIPO Prepares to Elect New Director General
There are 10 candidates declared to succeed Francis Gurry as WIPO Director General, when he retires in September this year after serving two six-year terms. One of them …
Supreme Court Poised to Reverse CAFC Trademark Decision on Willfulness as Prerequisite for Profits Award
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Romag Fasteners v. Fossil, Inc., Fossil Stores, I. Inc., Macy’s Inc, and Macy’s Retail Holdings, Inc. …
From Research to Market Value: Innovation Value Teams
In a recent article in Harvard Business Review, "Real Innovation Requires More Than an R&D Budget,” Dr. Gina O’Connor makes the case for having three …
House Small Business Committee Tackles Diversity Gap in Patenting Debate
The House Small Business Committee met earlier today for a hearing titled “Enhancing Patent Diversity for America’s Innovators,” in which members of Congress heard from witnesses …
Federal Circuit Affirms District Court Decision for CBS in Light of PTAB Invalidation
Last Friday, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court decision that found for the CBS Corporation in its defense against infringement and invalidity as to three claims …
Privacy Policies and the Value of Data in Bankruptcy Sales
The last few years have seen unprecedented changes in the legal landscape concerning data protection and privacy. The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became enforceable …
Lucky Brand Oral Arguments: SCOTUS Likely to Reverse Second Circuit Claim Preclusion Rule
On the morning of Monday, January 13, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Lucky Brand Dungarees Inc. v. Marcel Fashion Group Inc. The case asks …
The Supreme Court is More Interested in Being Right Than Shedding Light on 101
Yesterday was a dark day for patent eligibility in America. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari in five more petitions relating to patent eligibility challenges. Based …
Latest IFI CLAIMS Report Shows U.S. Patent Grants Are Up 15% Over 2018
U.S. patent grants grew by 15% from 2018 to 2019, with IBM heading the pack for the 27th consecutive year, according to IFI CLAIMS Patent Services’ 2019 report. There were 333,530 …
A Global Look at Post Grant Patent Maintenance Fees
A patent maintenance fee is an official fee that is payable at prescribed intervals to a national patent office over the lifecycle of a patent application or …
Views from the Top: IP Leaders Sound Off on Supreme Court’s Refusal to Wade into Patent Eligibility Debate
To the surprise and sorrow of some, but the relief of others, the Supreme Court earlier today denied certiorari in some key cases on patent eligibility law, …
This Week in Washington IP: Increasing Inventor Diversity, USCMA Implementation and EU Investments Into R&D
This week in Washington-based IP events, the Senate will host a series of committee hearings to explore the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) implementation bill recently passed by …
It’s Official: SCOTUS Will Not Unravel Section 101 Web
The Supreme Court this morning released its orders list, in which it denied all pending petitions for certiorari on cases concerning patent eligibility. The Court has now …
Three Key Strategies for Adapting Patent Departments to Agile Innovation Settings
As companies grow their digital business, many R&D organizations transition to Agile innovation practices*, both in software and hardware development. Any implementation of Agile leads to …
Rules Governing Admission to the Bar for In-House Counsel
The issue of unauthorized practice of law is a concern for all attorneys, and something that periodically does catch up with patent attorneys. The typical scenario where …
Shah IP Law, PLLC Is Seeking to Hire 2-3 Patent Agents or Patent Attorneys
Shah IP Law, PLLC has an immediate need for 2-3 Patent Agents or Patent Attorneys with at least 2 years of experience in patent preparation, and patent prosecution. …
Arent Fox Seeks Patent Attorney or Agent for CA or DC Office
Arent Fox LLP has an open position for a patent attorney or patent agent with 2-4+ years of experience in patent preparation and prosecution for their Los …
IP Holds Lessons for Antitrust Law; No Monopoly on Patent Appeals the Way to Go
In November, the UIC John Marshall Law School held their 63rd Annual Intellectual Property Conference in Chicago, IL. The program consisted of four plenary sessions and nine …
The Top 10 Patent Stories of the Decade 2010 – 2019: Part I
This year, we wind down not only the year, but the decade. So, it is time to reflect upon the biggest patent related stories of the last …
The Top Five Most Memorable Insurance Company Brand Personalities
As a branding and marketing professional, I really enjoy seeing how advertising has evolved over the years. Gone are the days of boring, ho-hum advertising campaigns. With …
The Year in Patents: The Top 10 Patent Stories of 2019
As we prepare to enter a new year—and a new decade—it is time once again to look back on the year behind us to assess …
RPX Corporation is Seeking to Hire a Senior Patent Engineer
RPX Corporation is seeking to hire a Senior Patent Engineer to join their Patent Analysis Department. The position is a full-time, permanent position, located in San Francisco …
A Thank You from IPWatchdog As We Celebrate 20 Years
On Thursday, October 10, 2019, IPWatchdog.com celebrated 20 years of continuously being on the Internet. In typical IPWatchdog style, we had a great celebration at The Park at 14th, …
Agreement on USMCA Strikes Expanded Protections for Biologics
President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have reportedly reached an agreement on the much debated United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which would, if ratified, replace the …
Christmas Gifts for Patent Attorneys and Inventors
Christmas is in just a few days, but if you're still looking for gifts for the patent attorneys, engineers, scientists or inventors in your life, here are …
The Most High-Profile Patents of 2019
With the end of 2019 upon us, the holiday season is a great time to take a look back at the most influential patents—rather than patent stories—…
Tillis and Coons Nudge DOJ to Provide Revised Joint Statement on SEPs
Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE), Chair and Ranking Member, respectively, of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, sent a letter on …
The Most Iconic (and Patented) Toys and Games of All Time
Since America’s earliest days, many creative and innovative toys have come through the consumer marketplace. Many have become so iconic they are now household names and …
The Top 10 Patent Stories of the Decade 2010 – 2019: Part II
As we explained in Part I of this series yesterday, this December marks the end of a decade as well as 2019. In reflecting on the top 10 patent …
This Week in Washington IP: Antitrust Regulators Discuss Online Platforms, NASA’s Moon-Mars Program and Reauthorizing Compulsory Satellite Copyright Licenses
This week in tech and innovation hearings in Washington, D.C., the U.S. House of Representatives gets underway on Wednesday by exploring rulemaking at the Environmental …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 "…
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 …
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 …
When is an Invention Obvious?
That being said, the possibility that a utility patent could be obtained cannot be definitively ruled out even if an invention seems quite likely to be obvious, …
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” …
The Benefits of a Provisional Patent Application
Like any other patent application, a provisional patent application is effective to stop the clock relative to so-called statutory bars and immediately upon filing a provisional patent …
