After-the-fact Patent Assignment Too Late to Save Jurisdiction A patent assignment that was prepared after a patent infringement law suit was commenced was too late to save jurisdiction the Federal Circuit held in Abraxis Bioscience, Inc. v. Navinta LLC. Because the plaintiff did not obtain ownership of the patents at issue until after the lawsuit was commenced, the plaintiff lacked standing at the […] Continue Reading →
Use of Foreign-conceived Invention in U.S. Not Sufficient to Support 102(g)(2) Defense Section 102(g)(2) of the Patent Act creates a “prior inventor” defense to patent infringement. In Solvay SA v. Honeywell International, the Federal Circuit considered whether use of an invention by a third party within the United States prior to a patent’s priority date satisfies the prior inventor requirement of 102(g)(2), when the third party did […] Continue Reading →
Bayh-Dole Patent Ownership Dispute to be heard by Supreme Court Last week, the Supreme Court announced it will review the Federal Circuit decision in Stanford v. Roche, addressing patent ownership under the Bayh-Dole Act, after granting Stanford's petition for a writ of certiorari. The Court will decide an interesting patent ownership dispute involving the contractual obligation of a University inventor to assign rights to the […] Continue Reading →
Supreme Court hears arguments today regarding first sale doctrine and international purchases This morning the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Omega S.A., a case regarding the potential international scope of the first sale doctrine. Costco lawfully purchased authentic Omega watches abroad and imported them to the United States for sale in its stores. Omega sued for copyright infringement, arguing the watches […] Continue Reading →