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Patent Prosecution Experience Gap: Getting 2 Years Experience
For people starting out in the patent field, virtually all job announcements require some patent prosecution experience. A typical requirement is, for example, at least 2 years of …
Can the Federal Circuit use Rule 36 Affirmances in PTAB Appeals?
Inventor advocacy group US Inventor recently filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the nation’s highest court to grant a petition for …
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Supreme Court asked to apply Multiple Proceeding rule to end harassing validity challenges
The Multiple Proceedings rule has become the essence of uncertainty. What exactly does it mean? §325(d) gives the PTO Director the authority to refuse a petition when “…
Cost-Effective IP Strategies for Biotech Startups
A well-devised intellectual property (IP) portfolio can go a long way to ensure a startup biotech company’s business success in the marketplace. Patents allow a patent …
Second Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Copyright Infringement Claims as Time-Barred and Based on Non-Credible Testimony
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently issued a summary order in Latin American Music Company v. Spanish Broadcasting System affirming a lower …
Patent Drafting Basics: Instruction Manual Detail is What You Seek
In some important ways a patent application should be akin to an instruction manual, but unlike the aforementioned BBQ grill, the reader of relevant skill in the …
NASA Licenses Patent Portfolio to Achieve Widest Possible Distribution of Technology
NASA will enter into a range of different patent license agreements from no-cost evaluation licenses up to exclusive license. The agency’s goal in licensing technologies is …
Trademark Alert: Unauthorized Changes to Trademark Applications and Registrations
The United States Patent and Trademark Office sent an e-mail notifying stakeholders of an alarming ongoing scheme to hijack trademark files. Apparently, there has been a number …
Director Andrei Iancu lauds risk takers, calls patent troll narrative ‘Orwellian doublespeak’
Remarkably, in what I believe amounts to Orwellian “doublespeak," those who’ve been advancing the patent troll narrative argue that they do so because they are actually …
ITC Final Initial Determination: Apple Devices Infringe Qualcomm Patent but No Exclusion Order
Despite finding patent infringement under Section 337 and upholding the validity of Qualcomm’s asserted patents, ALJ Pender found that the statutory public interest factors weighed against issuing …
Getty Images Wins Summary Judgment in Copyright Case Over Press Photographs
This case stems back to a complaint filed by Zuma Press in August 2016, a few months after Getty displayed and offered thousands of images for commercial use …
Supreme Court Denies Cert in Two-Way Media v. Comcast, Refuses Another 101 Case
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari in Two-Way Media Ltd. v. Comcast Cable Communications, refusing to hear yet another appeal in …
Comcast Invalidates Rovi Patents at PTAB that Previously Secured Limited Exclusion Order at ITC
Perhaps Rovi will take the opportunity to test the waters with the newly created Precedential Opinion Panel (POP), which is intended to bring uniformity between examination procedures …
Time Warner Asks CAFC to Vacate $139.8M Reasonable Royalty Awarded to Sprint
John O’Quinn, partner at Kirkland & Ellis and counsel representing Time Warner at the Federal Circuit, argued that the entire verdict should be vacated, not just the …
Trademark Licensing Protection Act to Prevent Brand Control from Creating Joint Employer Relationship
Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX) are co-sponsoring H.R. 6695, the Trademark Licensing Protection Act of 2018, which has been referred to the House Committee …
Rule 36 Affirmances at the Federal Circuit – Week of October 8, 2018
During the week of October 8, 2018, there were five cases involving patents that were decided without an opinion as a result of Rule 36 affirmances at the United States …
Broad Application of WesternGeco Leads to Increased Patent Damages in Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor Int’l, Inc.
Last week, Chief Judge Stark issued a ruling from the District Court in Delaware that applies WesternGeco broadly to increase patent damages from foreign sales resulting from …
Cannabis Extract Patent Assertion Underscores Issue of Limited Prior Art for Marijuana Inventions
The suit, filed in the District of Colorado, involves the assertion of cannabis patent claims covering liquid formulations of highly enriched extracts of plant cannabinoids... United Cannabis …
Tech Giants Lead the Way on Fintech Patents, Ahead of Banks
British patent data insights firm Cipher recently released an IP strategy report that provides a look at how many firms are patenting technologies in the hopes of …
Congressman Rohrabacher Introduces the Inventor Protection Act to Protect Inventor-Owned Patents
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) has introduced H.R. 6557, the Inventor Protection Act, into the House of Representatives. This bill is the latest proposed piece of legislation to …
USPTO proposes CLE and bar dues for patent practitioners
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has provided the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) information relating to proposed patent fees in advance of the PPAC …
Nintendo Files Copyright, Trademark Infringement Suit Against Operator of ROM Websites
Nintendo’s complaint targets the operator of LoveROMS.com and LoveRETRO.co who has made thousands of Nintendo titles available online for free from platforms including the …
Federal Circuit vacates PTAB over error in determining real party in interest in RPX petition
The Federal Circuit found that the PTAB didn’t meaningfully examine Salesforce’s relationship with RPX and the nature of RPX as an entity that helps its …
Facebook patent infringement suit against BlackBerry looks remarkably patent troll-like
Facebook is asserting a series of patents the company has acquired from other firms, making its actions similar to those of non-practicing entities (NPEs) and remarkably patent …
Reports Shows Significant Increase in Trade Secret Litigation Since Passage of DTSA
The Lex Machina report supports the notion that trade secret litigation has ramped up in U.S. district courts in the time since the passage of the …
PopSockets wins General Exclusion Order Against Infringing Grips at ITC
PopSockets filed its Section 337 complaint with the ITC last April, naming 14 respondents, with 13 based in China and one operating in Hong Kong. This February, the administrative law …
Iancu: More 101 Guidance and PTAB Reforms Coming Soon
Repeatedly during his remarks and the question and answer period, Director Iancu explained that there will be more to come from the USPTO on patent eligibility and …
Exclusive with Roberta Romano-Götsch, Chief Operating Officer of Mobility and Mechatronics at EPO
I recently had the opportunity to go on the record with Roberta Romano-Götsch, the chief operating officer of Mobility and Mechatronics at the European Patent Office (…
Is Elon Musk a Modern Day Rasputin?
Musk also continues to be exposed by news headlines. Twice Musk has delayed his own deadline to reach the 5,000-per-week production goal he has set for Tesla’…
Trademark Enforcement Campaign By Chicago Restaurant Aloha Poke Draws the Ire of Native Hawaiian Activists
In recent weeks, Chicago, IL-based Hawaiian cuisine chain Aloha Poke has become embroiled in a public relations nightmare over a trademark policing campaign which has created backlash …
Where is the line between patentable subject matter and non-patentable products of nature?
A conflict exists between the incentive to invent and the breadth of patent-eligible subject matter. It has become difficult to recognize the line between patentable subject matter …
Can I hold on long enough until the madness stops?
If someone told me when starting my career in 1976 that I would discover a process that has been beyond the reach of professionals and experts for over 62 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 – …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Top Patent Firms for 2015
We compiled a list of the top patent firms, which are ranked based on the total number of U.S. utility patents that issued in 2015 where the …
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… …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 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 …
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 …
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” …
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 …
