Articles

Posted on Mar 23, 2016 in Articles

Any person associated with the filing and prosecution of a patent application has a “duty of candor and good faith” toward the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Failure to satisfy this duty can have dire consequences—a court may determine that “inequitable conduct” has occurred and a patent may therefore be found to be unenforceable. Proving that a party has engaged in inequitable conduct, however, has become very difficult over the past few years. So when recently, in Ohio Willow Wood v. Alps South LLC, 2015-1132 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 19, 2016), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reached an opinion that inequitable conduct had ­occurred, many IP attorneys took notice.

Posted on Feb 24, 2016 in Articles

The U.S. Supreme Court is soon set to decide the standard that should be used when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reassesses the validity of an issued patent. The case, Cuozzo Speed Technologies LLC v. Lee, No. 15-446, may play a significant role in determining whether an accused patent infringer can defend itself by arguing that the asserted patent should have never been granted in the first place.

Posted on Feb 1, 2016 in Articles

A U.S. patent application must be filed within one year of the underlying invention being on-sale or in public use, or all rights are lost. Experimental use, however, creates a grace period beyond the one year deadline. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will soon issue an important opinion clarifying when an experimental use has actually occurred.

Posted on Jan 25, 2016 in Articles

The football team The Washington Redskins and the musical group The Slants have recently been tied together – both have argued that their First Amendment rights were violated when their federal trademark registrations were denied. In The Slants’ case, however, the battle over the registration of their trademark began with arguments that racism and the ethnicity of the trademark owner were the causes of the dispute.

Posted on Dec 23, 2015 in Articles

What new ideas and innovations will be seen in the near future? How will technology be affecting our lives in the months ahead? To answer these questions, technologists often study recently granted patents and published patent applications in order to predict how innovation will influence the future.

Posted on Dec 8, 2015 in Articles

Patent owners who do not provide constructive notice to potential infringers by marking their products are prevented from recovering any damages for any infringements occurring prior to serving an actual, specific, notice of infringement, or bringing suit. Accordingly, patent owners who wish to realize the full potential of infringement damages through a lawsuit should mark their products with applicable patent numbers.

Posted on Dec 8, 2015 in Articles

In the first half of 2015, an astonishing 44 percent of all new patent civil actions were filed with the Eastern District of Texas. Furthermore, in 2014, two judges in the Eastern District of Texas were assigned 23.7 percent of all new patent civil actions filed that year.

Posted on Nov 16, 2015 in Articles

Generic Drugs, Are safe, effective and less expensive than brand name prescriptions, Used in approximately 50-60% of all prescriptions dispensed, Have same active ingredient(s), route of administration, dosage form, strength, indications…

Posted on Oct 28, 2015 in Articles

The standard for granting an injunction in a patent infringement case may have changed last month in Apple v. Samsung Electronics, No. 2014-1802 (Fed. Cir. September 17, 2015) (Apple IV). In this important decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit carefully evaluated the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case eBay v. MercExchange LLC, 547 U.S. 388 (2006), and made it easier for plaintiffs to obtain an injunction for patent infringement.

Posted on Sep 23, 2015 in Articles

“The palest ink is better than the best memory,” according to a Chinese proverb. Perhaps, but an important case that is set to go to oral argument next month might decide how much you will pay for that ink from recycled ink cartridges. In Lexmark International v. Impression Products, No. 14-1617 (which is currently being argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit), Lexmark International Inc. seeks to control who can recycle and resell Lexmark ink cartridges. And what is the issue being litigated? Patent exhaustion.