Federal Circuit Holds that USPTO Can’t Deny Trademarks as Offensive or Disparaging On Tuesday, December 22, 2015, the Federal Circuit held that a portion of § 2(a) of the Lanham Act is unconstitutional in a 10-2 decision. The decision was made in In re Simon Shiao Tam, an appeal from the Trademark Office. Mr. Tam is a member of an Asian American rock band called THE SLANTS. […] Continue Reading →
Are electronic transmissions “articles”within 19 U.S.C. § 1337? The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) is authorized by federal law (39 U.S.C. § 1337) to take action against the “importation … of articles that (i) infringe a valid and enforceable U.S. patent.”USITC investigations represent an alternative to federal court intellectual property litigation, and may be especially useful where the allegedly infringing act involves […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit-Statements in Application Properly Used to Enable Prior Art One of the basic requirements for the grant of a patent by the USPTO is the invention must be shown to be “new.”In practice, this means that the invention must be sufficiently different from the existing prior art, including patents, publications, and existing products. However, in order for a piece of prior art to preclude […] Continue Reading →
Supreme Court to Review Willful Infringement Standard in Light of Octane Fitness In the 2014 case of Octane Fitness v. ICON Health & Fitness, the Supreme Court overruled Federal Circuit jurisprudence and provided a flexible framework for district courts to grant attorney’s fees in “exceptional cases”under 35 U.S.C. § 285. The Court reasoned that requiring a prevailing party to show “material inappropriate conduct”or that a case was […] Continue Reading →
Expanded Powers of the USITC Under 19 U.S.C. §1337(b)(1) the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) is authorized to investigate allegations of unfair trade acts in the importation of articles that infringe a valid United States patent. If a violation of the statute is found, the USITC issues an exclusion order that bars the importation of some or all of the […] Continue Reading →
Peace, Love, and Trademarks Federal Trademark registration allows the owner of a mark to enforce their rights throughout the U.S. Once a trademark registration is filed, however, those rights can be challenged either through litigation or though opposition proceedings instituted at the USPTO. In particular, a registered trademark can be challenged on the basis that it is likely to cause […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit Weighs in on Abbreviated Biosimilar Applications The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) establishes an abbreviated pathway for regulatory approval of follow-on biological products that are highly similar to a previously approved product (the reference product). The general structure of the abbreviated pathway, referred to as “biosimilar” licensure , is similar to that used for Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDA) under the […] Continue Reading →
Octane Fitness in Practice: Federal Circuit Applies Supreme Court Attorney Fees Standard The Supreme Court decision in Octane Fitness LLC v. ICON Health and Fitness (previously discussed on Filewrapper®) changed the standard for awarding attorney fees in patent suits to the prevailing party in exceptional cases under Section 258 of the patent statute. In Octane Fitness, the Court further defined “exceptional cases”to mean those “that stands out […] Continue Reading →
The Continuing Saga of the First IPR at the Federal Circuit The Federal Circuit has simultaneously issued an order and an opinion in In re Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC, previously discussed on Filewrapper® as being the first appeal arising from an inter partes review (“IPR‚¬) . The order issued by the Federal Circuit is a denial of the Petition for En Banc Rehearing to consider […] Continue Reading →
Teva v. Sandoz Revisited Teva v. Sandoz Revisited On June 18, 2015, a Federal Circuit panel reaffirmed that the key claim of the patent at issue inTeva v. Sandoz, was invalid as indefinite. The procedural posture and technical background leading up to this decision is discussed in aprior blog post. The Federal Circuit ultimately concluded that they are still […] Continue Reading →