Judicial and Executive Branches split over Subject Matter, New Legislation may be Coming Earlier this month the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) heard another appeal in the Cleveland Clinic v. True Health cases. In their appeal, one of Cleveland Clinic’s arguments that their claims were valid was because Skidmore deference should apply to the Examiner’s decision to allow the application to issue in light […] Continue Reading →
Change is Coming to Alice: Examiners with the Highest Percentage of Alice Rejections, 2014-2017 By Blog Staff Last week, Heidi S. Nebel, Managing Member and Chair of the Biotechnology & Chemical practice group, announced our new software partnership with Juristat as an added service to our clients. Below is an article that Juristat posted regarding Alice rejections that we felt was very important to share. This insight and knowledge from Juristat coupled […] Continue Reading →
MVS Obtains Juristat Software By Heidi Sease Nebel Ever wonder if you have been “blessed” with a difficult Examiner? Wondered if your issue in a case has been successfully resolved in another case? Wondered if your competitors are having the same issues before the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) as you? Wondered how many cases your competitor has filed? Wondered if […] Continue Reading →
CAFC’s Clarification for Using Claim Preambles as Limitation(s) By Blog Staff According to the United State Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) precedential opinion decided on March 26, 2019, ARCTIC CAT INC. v. GEP POWER PRODUCTS, INC., the claim preamble terms, such as “A power distribution module for a personal recreational vehicle comprising” or “A personal recreational vehicle comprising”, are not limiting. Two patents […] Continue Reading →
Judicial Exceptions to IP Statutes: Are They Dead? By Kirk M. Hartung On January 8, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a case involving the Federal Arbitration Act that could have a significant impact on patent law. The Arbitration Act, signed into law in 1925, allows parties to agree to submit disputes to arbitration, rather than litigating in court. Although, sometimes parties disagree as to whether an arbitration […] Continue Reading →
Can I Use This Song In My Podcast? It Depends. By According to Podcast Insights, there are currently over 660,000 podcasts in existence and over 28 million episodes available to listen to. This number is certainly growing as are the legal concerns and issues associated with hosting or producing a podcast. This article will provide some general guidelines and outline some of the rules around using […] Continue Reading →
Precedential Opinion Panel Decides Issue Joinder in IPR is Permissible A panel of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a precedential decision March 13, 2019 stating that a party that challenges a patent in an inter-partes review (IPR) proceeding can join their own petition challenging another’s patent, in order to add new issues, but only in limited circumstances. Here, Proppant Express Investments LLC […] Continue Reading →
How Many Patents Are Enough for a Product? By Blog Staff The answer to the question of course, depends on the commercial value of the product. However, it is also obvious that the commercial value of a product is closely correlated to the number of patents for its protection. The relationship between commercial value and number of patents is best illustrated by the relevant facts for […] Continue Reading →
Resolving Circuit Splits: Supreme Court Addresses Issues Regarding Legal Fees By Blog Staff On March 4, 2019, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Iancu v. NantKwest, Inc. to settle the debate over what “all the expenses” means under the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) win-or-lose attorney fee policy. This controversial policy involves seeking attorneys’ fees from applicants, regardless of the outcome of a case. During […] Continue Reading →
Burger King Ribs McDonald’s After Loss of ‘Big Mac’ Trademark in the E.U. By Sarah M.D. Luth In mid-January of 2019, McDonald’s lost its rights to the trademark ‘Big Mac’ in a European case which ruled in favor of an Irish fast food chain, Supermac’s. Supermac’s, founded in 1978 by Gaelic football player Pat McDonagh, offers a burger called the ‘Mighty Mac’. McDonald’s asserted that the ‘Mighty Mac’, along with other Supermac’s […] Continue Reading →