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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 […]

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TTAB now allows citation of nonprecedential opinions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USPTO Official Gazette yesterday, the TTAB has changed its rules, now allowing citation to TTAB decisions designated non-precedential. Under the former rule, any non-precedential decisions cited before the TTAB were disregarded. Now, while only opinions designated as precedential are binding on the TTAB, a non-precedential opinion “may be cited […]

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Cisco’s General Counsel blogs about dispute with Apple over iPhone trademark

In an interesting PR move, Mark Chandler, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Cisco Systems, has posted an informative description of the Apple-Cisco iPhone trademark lawsuit on one of Cisco's blogs. Commentary on the blog, while mixed, appears to be predominantly positive, particularly by those who did not understand Cisco's legal position when the […]

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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 […]

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Ketchup makers battle over rights to “red zone”

Ketchup giant Heinz and rival ketchup maker Red Gold are embroiled in a trademark dispute over the right to use “Red Zone” in promotions associated with football games. In football, the red zone is the common name of the area between the 20-yard line and the end zone, and a team’s offense is often measured […]

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University of Texas sues over use of “sawed-off” horns logo

The University of Texas has sued Aggieland Outfitters, a retailer in College Station, Texas (home of rival university Texas A&M) over its use of a modified version of the Texas Longhorns logo. The original logo and the modified version appear below: The retailer has been selling merchandise bearing the "sawed off" logo since 1997, but […]

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“Critical” ratio in claim does not get the benefit of the doctrine of equivalents

Today’s lesson from the Federal Circuit: be careful not to make a claim limitation “critical,” or you may lose the benefit of the doctrine of equivalents for that element. The court found that the claimed weight ratio of two drugs was critical in part because other claims recited a range of ratios, but the claim […]

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Appeals Court holds Transclean Corporation to its stated position

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided in Transclean v. Jiffy Lube that Transclean should be bound by its repeated statements proffered during the course of litigation and not be allowed to take a contrary position during a second phase of litigation. Transclean is the sole licensee of U.S. Patent No. […]

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Roundup of media coverage of “MedImmune v. Genentech” decision

After last week's Supreme Court decision in MedImmune v. Genentech holding a patent licensee in good standing need not breach the license agreement in order to bring a claim that the patent is invalid, not infringed, or unenforceable, the media has begun to offer its perspective on the case. Below is a sampling of the […]

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Trademark “use in commerce” must be lawful to build trademark rights

When is a use in commerce not sufficient to build trademark rights? When that use is unlawful. The Ninth Circuit, in a dispute between two manufacturers of antioxidants made from olive extract, held in an issue of first impression in that circuit that unlawful use in commerce cannot support federal trademark rights. This decision agrees […]

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