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Federal Circuit Puts the Brakes on District Court’s Claim Construction

The Federal Circuit today issued a fairly routine claim construction decision, vacating part of the district court's claim construction and remanding. The Court also affirmed the district court's decision to deny Rule 11 sanctions (applying Ninth Circuit law). More details of the case after the jump. Intamin Ltd. sued Magnetar Technologies Corp. for infringement of […]

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Patent Reform Act of 2007

As noted yesterday, four members of Congress (Leahy and Hatch in the Senate, Berman and Smith in the House) announced introduction of new patent reform legislation yesterday. Also as predicted yesterday, it is similar in many respects to patent reform legislation introduced in 2005 and 2006, but with a few new twists. More details of […]

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Patent Examiner groups air their grievances

In an open letter to the heads of the United States, European, Canadian, German, and Austrian patent offices, an international coalition of patent examiner groups seeks changes in the demands on patent examiners, stating that the increase in productivity demands and the number of applications to be examined, combined with the increased complexity of applications […]

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Congress to introduce patent reform bills today

In a press conference scheduled for 2:30 2:15 pm EDT this afternoon, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), with Representatives Howard Berman (D-CA) and Lamar Smith (R-TX), are expected to announce introduction of identical bills in both the House and Senate in an effort to reform the patent system. [Update (4/19): see this […]

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USPTO changes address for Madrid Protocol applications and related papers

In a Federal Register notice today, the USPTO announced that it has changed its address for international trademark applications under the Madrid Protocol and related correspondence. The full list of affected papers includes: International applications under § 7.11, subsequent designations under § 7.21, responses to notices of irregularity under § 7.14, requests to record changes […]

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Supreme Court asks for Government’s view on yet another patent case

In its order list released today, the Supreme Court has indicated that it may accept yet another appeal in a patent-related case, as it has invited the Office of the Solicitor General to file a brief stating the position of the United States on the case. The case is Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, […]

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Willful infringement affirmed; injunction vacated in light of eBay

The Federal Circuit affirmed a finding of willful infringement against a medical device manufacturer, but vacated a permanent injunction entered based on the old injunction standard to be reevaluated by the district court in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in eBay v. MercExchange. The infringer obtained opinions of counsel regarding infringement at two different […]

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The Truth Be Told, “Lawyers” are Generic

The truth is finally out — "Lawyers" are generic. Really, "lawyers.com" is generic. In a case before the Federal Circuit, the Court affirmed the holding of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) which denied registration of the mark LAWYERS.COM for providing an online interactive database featuring information exchange in the fields of law, legal […]

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Ninth Circuit: Disinfectable not trademarkable

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday issued a decision regarding whether the term "disinfectable" could serve as a trademark in the context of nail files and related goods. The court held that it could not, as disinfectable was the generic term for a product that is capable of being disinfected. As a result, the […]

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Splenda leaves a bitter taste in competitors’ mouths

The business may be all about sweetness, but the competition can be bitter. That's the story right now in the artificial sweetener business, with much of the action centered around sucralose, the sweetener in Splenda®. The sweetener is the subject of several currently pending cases. In the first, rival sweetener maker Merisant, maker of Equal® […]

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