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Other Barks & Bites for Friday, March 5: China Leads World in 2020 PCT Filings, Copyright Office Issues Rules on Music Modernization Act, and USIJ Urges President Biden to Pick Patent-Friendly USPTO Director
This week in Other Barks & Bites: USIJ’s letter to President Biden urges him to select a USPTO Director who understands the important role of IP in …
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Balancing Innovation and Competition: Thomas Jefferson’s View of Obviousness for Mechanical Inventions
You cannot get a patent for an invention if it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time. This …
Massive Jury Verdict for VLSI Sets Stage for ‘Efficient Infringement’ Debate
On Tuesday, March 2, a jury verdict entered into the Western District of Texas awarded $2.175 billion in damages to VLSI Technologies for patent infringement committed by multinational tech …
Professors Tell SCOTUS to Correct the CAFC’s ‘Profound Misunderstanding’ in American Axle Case
In one of six amicus briefs filed this week in American Axle & Manufacturing v. Neapco Holdings, LLC—the closely-watched Section 101 patent eligibility case involving driveshaft automotive technology—…
Design Patents: Under Utilized and Overlooked
Once upon a time, one of the ways you could spot scams from legitimate operators in the patent industry was to look at who was directing clients …
Patent Filings Roundup: Neodron Settles En Masse; Pineapple34 Expresses Interest Over Old IV Patents; Pharma IPR Denied Over Prosecution History, Secondary Considerations Evidence
A light week at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) saw two post grant reviews (PGRs) and 16 inter partes reviews (IPRs) filed, while the District Court …
What to Know About the European Patent Office 2021 Guidelines for Examination: Part I – CII and Procedural Changes
The European Patent Office (EPO) recently published its Guidelines for Examination 2021, which came into force on March 1.
The trend towards an accurate and detailed explanation of substantive …
Deciding Where to Obtain International Patent Rights
Determining where to seek patent rights is an important and expensive decision. If you know you are going to want international patent protection, the best, most cost-effective …
Setting the Record Straight on NIST’s Public Meeting: No, Senators Bayh and Dole Didn’t Sell Out Their Law
As we all know by now, we live in mean-spirited times. A galling example occurred during the February 25 public meeting held by the National Institute of Standards …
Amici and Practitioners Attempt to Read the Arthrex Tea Leaves
Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the most closely-watched patent case of the term, United States / Smith & Nephew v. Arthrex. IPWatchdog reached out to some …
The New Copyright Small Claims Board Presents Problems for Copyright Owners and Small Businesses
Creative people need a quick, efficient and inexpensive way to recover damages for copyright infringement. They need a place to submit their charge of infringement and collect …
SCOTUS Dubs PTAB/APJ Structure a ‘Rare Bird’, Pushes for Workable Remedies in Arthrex Oral Arguments
The Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court today heard arguments in United States/ Smith & Nephew v. Arthrex, in which the Court will decide whether the administrative …
Tillis, Michel, and Kappos File Amici Curiae in American Axle at Supreme Court
On Monday,, March 2, an Amici Curiae Brief in Support of the Petition by American Axle was filed by Senator Thom Tillis, Honorable Paul Michel and Honorable David …
This Week in Washington IP: Aligning Medicare and Telehealth During COVID-19, Library of Congress Budget Hearing and Balancing Privacy and Innovation in Virtual Reality Tech
This week in Washington IP news, the House of Representatives hosts a pair of hearings that may interest IP enthusiasts: the House Legislative Branch Subcommittee will convene …
NYIPLA Tells SCOTUS to Scrap CAFC’s ‘Per Se’ Approach to Assignor Estoppel in Minerva v. Hologic
Minerva Surgical, Inc. petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in September 2020 to consider the question “whether a defendant in a patent infringement action who …
From Home Security to VoIP: Honoring Black Women Inventors of the Last Half-Century
Throughout February, we have recognized some of the earliest Black women inventors, beginning with Martha Jones in 1868 and her patent directed to a corn husker, ending with …
Tillis Targets Criminal Streaming Services with ‘Protecting Lawful Streaming Act’
On Thursday, December 10, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, released text of bipartisan legislation titled the “Protecting Lawful …
Lowering the Bar to Diversify the Patent Bar Would Be Misguided and Unethical
On December 11, Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE), sent a letter to United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Andrei Iancu …
Senator Tillis Releases Draft Bill to Modernize the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property released a discussion draft copyright reform bill titled the 'Digital Copyright …
‘We Want Action’: Rightsholder Reps Address Platforms in IP Subcommittee Hearing, as DMCA Reform Draft Looms
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held its last hearing of the year on reforms to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) today, three …
Ready for 2021? Beware Non-Use of Your Trademarks in 2020
Some businesses, as a result of the pandemic, have been pressed to discontinue manufacture or sale of products or have otherwise limited the scope of their business …
The Copyright Top Five of 2020
From the Google v. Oracle arguments to Congress’ year-long discussion around reform of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 2020 was a big one for copyright law. A …
CAFC Upholds District Court Finding for Netflix Invalidating Adaptive Patent Under 101
On December 14, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed a decision of the United States District Court for the Central District of …
Ericsson Wins Temporary Restraining Order Over Samsung in ED TX FRAND Litigation
Earlier today, Judge Rodney Gilstrap of the United States Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a temporary restraining order against Samsung in a …
Tillis Report Sums Up Senate IP Subcommittee’s Work on U.S. IP and Innovation
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Chair, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), who was re-elected to a second term this November with about 49% of the …
ITC Issues Limited Exclusion Order on Botox Products, Partially Reverses Trade Secret Finding
In September, the International Trade Commission (ITC) decided to review an initial final determination (FID) in the Matter of “Certain Botulinum Toxin Products, Processes for Manufacturing or …
What Mattered in 2020? Industry Experts Have Their Say on This Year’s Biggest Moments in IP
As we get ready to usher in the new year this week (hopefully in smaller groups than usual), it is once again time to look back on …
Dorsey Responses to Senators on Copyright Reform Show Contempt for Congress and IP
On December 28, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chair of the Senate IP Subcommittee, and Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), Ranking Member of the Senate IP Subcommittee, sent another letter …
Europe’s Top Five (Non-Patent) IP Developments of 2020
In a previous piece, we covered the top five patent developments of the year in Europe. Here, we review some of the key cases and legislation that …
Supreme Court Will Review Doctrine of Assignor Estoppel
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition for certiorari filed by Minerva Surgical, Inc. asking the Court to clarify questions around the doctrine of …
The Year in Patents: Ten Developments We’ll Remember From 2020
As we end 2020— a year most of us probably wish to forget— it appears that after much litigation it is finally safe to call Joe Biden 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 "…
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 …
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 …
Invention to Patent 101 – Everything You Need to Know to Get Started
This page and website contain contain detailed information to help inventors on the road from invention to patent... Below are a sampling of inventor help links to …
Protecting an Idea: Can Ideas Be Patented or Protected?
Many people ask: can ideas be patented? The short answer is no. Unfortunately, despite what you may have heard from late night television commercials, there is no …
