Court-Mandated Claim Limitation: The Complexity of Simplification Patent cases often present many complex issues because a given case can feature a patent portfolio where each patent within the portfolio has a high number of litigable claims. Parties filing a patent suit on the basis of a patent portfolio and/or a large number of claims should be aware and prepared to respond to […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit Reverses PTAB Obviousness Decision for the Board’s Failure to Adequately Articulate an Obviousness Rationale In Black & Decker, Inc. v. Positec USA, Inc., a non-precedential opinion, the Federal Circuit reversed the Patent and Trial Appeal Board’s (PTAB) finding of obviousness of two claims. The appeal arose from an Inter Partes Review (IPR) of U.S. Patent No. 5,544,417 owned by Black & Decker directed to a string trimmer. The PTAB […] Continue Reading →
USPTO Releases New Guidance on Life Sciences Patent-Eligible Subject Matter The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued new guidance for Subject Matter Eligibility of Life Sciences patents. A memorandum with the subject “Formulating a Subject Matter Eligibility Rejection and Evaluating the Applicant’s Response to a Subject Matter Eligibility Rejection” was released May 4, 2016. The Memorandum was accompanied by a new set of […] Continue Reading →
UPDATE: Federal Trade Secret Act Signed into Law Today (May 11, 2016), the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) of 2016 was signed into law by President Obama. The DTSA was passed in the House of Representatives on April 27, by a vote of 410-2. The Senate had previously passed the DTSA on April 4 by a vote of 87-0. The DTSA was presented […] Continue Reading →
Trademarks in China Apple recently lost what may turn out to be a significant trademark infringement case in China. Apple, having a registration for the mark “IPHONE”in international class (IC) 9, opposed Xintong Tiandi Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.’s trademark application for the mark “IPHONE”in IC 18 covering leather goods, including cell phone cases. Apple argued that the IPHONE […] Continue Reading →
Supreme Court Revisits Standard for Awarding Attorneys’ Fees in Copyright Cases Earlier this week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments addressing the relevant standard for awarding attorneys’ fees in cases involving copyright law. The Court’s ruling, expected later this spring, will likely have a significant impact on copyright litigation cases. Section 505 of the Copyright Act provides that a district court “may”award a reasonable attorney’s fee […] Continue Reading →
Trade Secret Law Update (House Passes the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016) Are You Ready? The Defend Trade Secret Act is Coming! Today, the House of Representative passed the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) of 2016 by a vote of 410-2, as previously anticipated.The Senate already passed the DTSA on April 4th. The next step for the DTSA to become law of the land is the signature […] Continue Reading →
UPDATE: Will the U.S. Enact a Federal Trade Secret Law? The Filewrapper® series relating to all things trade secrets has previously updated the status of proposed federal trade secret legislation (available here). As previously reported there appears to be sufficient legislative support to enact legislation to establish a single, national standard for trade secret misappropriation with transparent procedural rules. The Senate has taken the next […] Continue Reading →
USPTO Issues Rule Amendments for Trials Before PTAB The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued finalized amendments to the rules for trials before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The updated rules were issued in a Federal Register Notice on April 1, 2016, which may be found here. The rules put into final form most of the amendments proposed on August 20, […] Continue Reading →
Tracking the Mayo Effect: Study Examines Personalized Medicine Patent Applications after SCOTUS Decision The US Supreme Court decided Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Labs. in 2012, effectively redefining the scope of patent eligible subject matter, particularly with respect to biotechnology and personalized medicine. Subsequent decisions by the Court in Myriad and Alice have confirmed what many prognosticators had predicted: a wide-spread broadening of the judicially-created exceptions to patent […] Continue Reading →