Princeton Vanguard v. Frito-Lay: One Test to Rule All Generic Analysis

Princeton Vanguard v. Frito-Lay: One Test to Rule All Generic Analysis

“Intangible” Software Unpatentable? – AllVoice Developments v. Microsoft

  In this non-precedential opinion (Fed. Cir. 2015) the Court held claims 60-68 of U.S. Patent No. 5,799,273 (the “‘273 Patent‚¬) invalid under 35. U.S.C. § 101 as not being directed to one of the four statutory categories of inventions identified in 35 U.S.C. 101. Claim 60 is set forth below: 60. A universal speech-recognition […]

Apple v. Samsung-Part II, A Design Patent Breakdown

  The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently decided the appeal for Apple v. Samsung, involving allegations of trade dress dilution, design patent infringement, and utility patent infringement. The case relates to Samsung’s alleged copying of Apple’s popular iPhone smartphone. A jury previously found that Samsung infringed Apple’s design and utility […]

Inflammatory Post

The Federal Circuit has no Idea What It is Talkinng About

Lost Profit Damages Require Actual Sales by Patentee

The award of damages in patent infringement cases is governed by 35 U.S.C. § 284. The statute provides “[u]pon finding for the [patent owner] the court shall award the claimant damages adequate to compensate for the infringement, but in no event less than a reasonable royalty for the use made of the invention by the […]

Cancelation of Trademarks due to First Actual Use After Application

Federal registration of a trademark provides a number of benefits to the trademark owner, including protection throughout the entire country, advantageous litigation position—for example presumption of validity and enhanced monetary damages—and enlistment of the U.S. Customs Service to stop importation of counterfeit goods. The federal trademark system provides two separate avenues for protecting a mark: […]

Claim Preambles as Limitations- the Saga Continues

The preamble of a patent claim normally recites some purpose or objective, but is generally not considered to limit the scope of the claim unless it “breaths life and meaning into the claim.” There are a number of ways that the preamble can take on patentable weight, including by serving as the antecedent basis for […]

Shifting Pre-Trial Strategy in the Wake of Alice and Ultramercial

Four recent Supreme Court cases involving patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101 (Bilski v. Kappos, Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., Ass'n for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., and Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International ) have had the practical effect of heightening the standard for patentability. However, these cases may […]