Other Barks & Bites for Friday, September 16: IPWatchdog LIVE Takes Over Renaissance Richardson Dallas, Biden Issues Executive Order on Biotech Innovation, and EGC Affirms Ruling Against Google’s Android Restrictions

This week in Other Barks & Bites: IPWatchdog LIVE sees 250 top industry insiders partake in panel sessions and other events at the Renaissance Richardson Dallas hotel; GM announces a nearly $500 million investment into electric vehicle upgrades at a factory in Marion, IN; the European General Court affirms an EU Commission ruling finding that Google placed unlawful restrictions on manufacturers and network providers operating in the Android market; Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) reintroduces a bill to codify name, image and likeness (NIL) rights for collegiate athletes; and President Biden issues an executive order directing several federal agencies to oversee $2 billion in funding for biotech and biomanufacturing R&D initiatives.

Bites

IPWatchdog LIVE 2022 Brings Together Top IP Industry Insiders in Dallas This Week – On Sunday, September 11, IPWatchdog kicked off the first day of its LIVE 2022 conference at the Renaissance Dallas Richardson Hotel with a fireside chat between IPWatchdog Founder and CEO Gene Quinn and USPTO Texas Regional Director Hope Shimabuku. That same day, former USPTO Director Andrei Iancu was presented with the second annual Paul Michel Award for contributions to the U.S. patent community. Other panel discussions at the three-day conference covered the path forward from American Axle, patent litigation in the Western District of Texas, and the future of patent policy at the USPTO.

CAFC Affirms Denial of Motions to Terminate Following SCOTUS Vacature in Arthrex – On Thursday, September 15, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision in Polaris Innovations Ltd. v. Brent in which the appellate court affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) ruling finding all challenged claims of Polaris Innovations Limited’s patents unpatentable and denying Polaris’ motions to terminate.

EGC Affirms EU Commission’s Ruling that Google Imposed Unlawful Android Restrictions – On Wednesday, September 14, the European General Court (EGC) affirmed a July 2018 ruling by the European Commission finding that Internet services giant Google violated the EU’s competition laws by imposing anticompetitive contractual restrictions on mobile device manufacturers and mobile network operators to unlawfully maintain a market dominant position for Google’s search engine and app store.

CAFC Rules That Claim Amendments Doom SawStop’s PTA Lawsuits – On Wednesday, September 14, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision in SawStop Holding LLC v. Vidal in which the appellate court affirmed the Eastern District of Virginia’s summary judgment ruling denying patent term adjustments (PTAs) to patent owner SawStop. The Federal Circuit agreed with the district court that the appealed patents were not subject to a guaranteed PTA for delays in issuance caused by appeals because the original claims remained rejected by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) while SawStop sought extensions for claims that only issued after further prosecution and amendment.

Senator Wicker Reintroduces Bill to Establish National NIL Framework for Collegiate Athletes – On Wednesday, Septmeber 14, Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) reintroduced the Collegiate Athlete Compensation Rights Act into the U.S. Senate. If enacted, the bill would codify name, image and likeness (NIL) rights for collegiate athletes into federal statute, prohibit the use of NIL compensation packages to recruit students to particular college sports programs and establish a uniform framework for the compensation of NIL rights at the federal level.

Centripetal Networks Asks SCOTUS to Reinstate $2.7 Billion Patent Verdict – On Tuesday, September 13, patent owner Centripetal Networks filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the nation’s highest court to reverse the Federal Circuit’s determination that the district judge did not properly divest shares of Cisco stock before entering a ruling finding that Cisco infringed upon Centripetal’s patent claims. Centripetal argues that the judge’s deposit of the shares into a blind trust prior to entering the ruling satisfies the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 455(f) governing recusal of judges in cases where the judge has a financial interest in the outcome.

New Vision and Amici Redouble Due Process Arguments After GAO Report – On Monday, September 12, inventor advocacy group US Inventor filed an amicus brief at the Federal Circuit supporting the recent appeal of the USPTO’s denial of Director review by New Vision Gaming, which contends that a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the USPTO’s control of administrative patent judges (APJs) at the PTAB lend sufficient weight to arguments that patent validity trials at the PTAB violate constitutional due process. Two days after US Inventor’s brief was filed, another amicus filing from engineer and patent policy commentator Ron Katznelson provided empirical data underscoring the pecuniary interest of APJs in America Invents Act (AIA) trials biasing those agency judges in favor of instituting AIA petitions.

Biden Issues Executive Order on Advancing Innovation in Biotech and Biomanufacturing – On Monday, September 12, President Joe Biden issued an executive order on advancing biotechnology and biomanufacturing innovation which directs the heads of several Executive Branch agencies to harness research and development efforts in those areas to support societal goals related to health, climate change, supply chains and more. On Wednesday, the White House released a fact sheet indicating that the Biden Administration would be appropriating $2 billion for the biotech and biomanufacturing initiative ahead of a summit with top Executive Branch officials to discuss the implementation of Biden’s executive order.