Filewrapper

Federal jury finds H.264 video compression standard does not infringe patent

A federal jury in San Diego recently found that Broadcom, a company that produces chips used in everything from mobile phones to next-generation DVD players, does not infringe two patents held by Qualcomm on video compression technology. Why is this finding important? Qualcomm asserted its patents covered the H.264 video compression standard, which is the […]

Continue Reading →

Federal Circuit again dismisses patent case for lack of standing

The Federal Circuit has once again found the plaintiff in a patent infringement lawsuit did not have standing to bring its infringement claim. In order for a single plaintiff to have standing to assert infringement of a patent, that plaintiff must be the owner of the entire interest in the patent. As succinctly stated by […]

Continue Reading →

On this date: 1886

Karl Benz patents his "Motorwagen," the first automobile. Below are figures from the patent: The full patent (in German) is available here.

Continue Reading →

Federal Circuit Places Members of the Bar on Notice

It’s not over until it’s over. In International Electronic Technology Corp. v. Hughes Aircraft Company, DirecTV, Inc. and Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc., the Federal Circuit dismissed International Electronic’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction. In its ruling, the Federal Circuit stated: “The court takes umbrage at parties who have not carefully screened their cases to ascertain […]

Continue Reading →

Walker Process antitrust claim reinstated: threats to sue competitor’s customers sufficient

In Hydril Co. v. Grant Prideco, Inc., the Federal Circuit reinstated a Walker Process antitrust claim the lower court had dismissed. A Walker Process claim can arise when a patent holder, knowing that its patent was obtained through fraud, still attempts to enforce the patent. This type of claim is named after the Supreme Court […]

Continue Reading →

Federal Circuit to decide scope of attorney-client privilege waiver en banc

The Federal Circuit this afternoon agreed to hear a case to determine the scope of the waiver of attorney-client privilege when advice of counsel is used to defend against a charge of willful infringement. The order in In re Seagate Technology, LLC, which can be found here, invites the parties to brief the following questions: […]

Continue Reading →

Audiobooks can be rented without publisher’s consent: first sale exception does not apply

Today the Sixth Circuit considered an issue that has not yet been addressed by any other United States Court of Appeal: whether the record rental exception to copyright law’s first sale doctrine codified in 17 U.S.C. &sect 109(b)(1)(A) applies to all sound recordings or only to recordings of musical works. A divided panel held that […]

Continue Reading →

University Can’t Have Its Cake and Eat It Too – Immunity Negated

The University of Missouri’s waived its constitutional immunity under the Eleventh Amendment when it fully participated in an interference action against Vas-Cath, Inc. A Vas-Cath patent had issued while the University’s application, although filed before the Vas-Cath application, was still pending. The University invoked the procedures to institute an interference between the University’s pending application […]

Continue Reading →

TTAB now allows citation of nonprecedential opinions

In a notice posted in the USPTO Official Gazette yesterday, the TTAB has changed its rules, now allowing citation to TTAB decisions designated non-precedential. Under the former rule, any non-precedential decisions cited before the TTAB were disregarded. Now, while only opinions designated as precedential are binding on the TTAB, a non-precedential opinion “may be cited […]

Continue Reading →

Federal Circuit proposes revised circuit rules

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has proposed changes to its Circuit Rules. The revised rules would require parties, in addition to filing paper copies of briefs and appendices, to also file the briefs and appendices in electronic form unless counsel certifies that filing an electronic copy would not be practical or constitute hardship. The […]

Continue Reading →

Stay in Touch

Receive the latest news and updates from us and our attorneys.

Sign Up