CRISPR Technologies: Overcoming Patentability Challenges in an Increasingly Difficult Patent Landscape

By Sarah M.D. Luth

The term “CRISPR,” which is an acronym for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, generally refers to RNA-guided genome editing technology used to engineer the genetic material of organisms with high accuracy and precision. It has wide applications in a variety of fields including genetics, biology, agriculture, medicine, and digital data storage, to name a […]

Patent Owners can Recover for Lost Foreign Profits

By Blog Staff

On June 22, 2018, in WesternGeco, LLC v. ION Geophysical Corporation, the Supreme Court held that patent owners can recover for lost foreign profits based on 35 U.S.C. § 271(f)(2). The statute states that “[W]however without authority supplies or causes to be supplied in or from the United States any component of a patented invention […]

Inter Partes Review Proceedings (IPRs) Survive First Constitutional Challenge, But Court Opinion Opens Door to Further Challenges

By Jonathan L. Kennedy

On April 24, 2018, I had posted regarding the U.S. Supreme Court being held in a 7-2 decision (Justice Gorsuch and Chief Justice Roberts dissenting),Oil States Energy Servs. v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC, that the Inter Partes Review proceedings, commonly referred to as IPRs, do not violate Article III or the Seventh Amendment of the […]

Copyright Office Proposes New Fee Schedule

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The Copyright Office recently announced a new proposed fee schedule that would increase the majority of fees associated with filings at the Copyright Office. The proposal comes after an extensive assessment performed by consultants Booz Allen Hamilton. The proposed fee increase would help the Copyright Office offset regular costs, while also providing the Copyright Office […]

Farm Bill Amendments to Enable CBD Oil and Hemp Industry

By Cassie J. Edgar

On June 27th, the Senate published the latest version of amendments to the Farm Bill which contain updates to the regulatory framework for hemp and derived products including CBD (cannabidiol) oil. Cannabidiol oil has documented health benefits such as effectiveness in treating certain types of seizures, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services […]

ZERO-ing in on the Right Legal Test for Genericness

By Blog Staff

In Royal Crown Co. v. The Coca-Cola Co., the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) vacated a decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) dismissing Royal Crown’s opposition to the registration of Coca-Cola’s trademarks for soft drinks and sports drinks with the term ZERO. The CAFC concluded that the […]

Is your Confidential Sale Prior Art Against You? The Supreme Court has Decided to Weigh In.

You have a new idea and have found an interested buyer. If you sell your product or process to the buyer prior to filing a patent application, have you created your own prior art? If it is prior art, it would bar a later filed patent under 35 USC §102. Prior to the change in […]

U.S. Patent Number 10 Million

By Kirk M. Hartung

Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) reached a new milestone, with issuance of patent number 10 million. This patent is entitled Coherent LADAR Using Intra-Pixel Quadrature Detection, and relates to a laser detection system for various industries, such as medical imaging and autonomous vehicles. The patent is owned by Raytheon Company, of […]

Patent Rights are NOT Monopoly Rights

By Luke T. Mohrhauser

There has been a long believed and conveyed statement that patent rights provide a “legal monopoly”. While this may be a simple way to explain the rights held by one issued patent, this is simply not true. Monopolies, at their core, attempt to control a market or an aspect of a market. Patents provide protection […]

Protecting Your Nanotechnology Inventions – Part 1: Defining Your Space

By Jonathan L. Kennedy

In a recent post, I discussed the increasing focus on nanotechnology research including the growing number of patents issued and government funding in nanotechnology research. Obtaining the strongest and broadest protection for your nanotechnology should be a focus of any research and intellectual property (IP) strategy. There are things that can be done during research […]