Who Owns the Copyright in A Tattoo?

By

17 U.S.C § 201. Ownership of a Copyright. (a) Initial Ownership. — Copyright in a work protected under this title vests initially in the author or authors of the work. The authors of a joint work are coowners of copyright in the work. The ownership of the copyright in a tattoo has long been the […]

En banc Federal Circuit to address potential patent misuse issues in license practices

The Federal Circuit has agreed to hear en banc an interesting issue with regard to the potential for patent misuse in licensing. The case is Princo Corp. v. ITC. At issue is the patent pool related to the technology used for CD-R and CD-RW discs. The alleged infringer, Princo, admitted infringement before the ITC, but […]

Close but no cigar: ITC gets 4 of 5 claim constructions correct, but must reconsider 2 issues

In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit addressed a variety of claim construction, infringement, and validity issues in an appeal from the International Trade Commission. After construing five disputed claim terms, the ITC held one of four representative products infringed, the remaining three did not infringe, and one claim invalid as anticipated. Both parties appealed.The […]

ITC cannot enter limited exclusion order against non-parties

In a decision last week, the Federal Circuit vacated a limited exclusion order issued by the International Trade Commission in the most recent dispute between Qualcomm and Broadcom. The case involved alleged infringement of one of Broadcom's patents relating to chips for wireless communication, specifically directed toward power saving technology. Although Qualcomm was the only […]

Inducement not shown when accused product can work in an infringing way but doesn’t have to

In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit affirmed the International Trade Commission's finding of noninfringement with respect to one patent but reversed and remanded on another. At issue was whether the defendant had imported chipsets that infringed five of the plaintiff's patents in violation of 19 U.S.C. § 1337. The action was dismissed with regard […]

When exclusion order based on multiple patents, failure to appeal under each may render appeal moot

In a decision last week, the Federal Circuit affirmed the United States International Trade Commission's finding of infringement and validity. The claims were brought under three patents that all claimed priority to a common parent application, and thus would ordinarily all expire on the same day. However, one of the three patents was subject to […]

Hybrid vehicle patent not infringed; invalidity issues need not be reached on appeal from ITC

In an appeal from the International Trade Commission, the Federal Circuit affirmed the Commission's determination of noninfringement of a patent. The court, however, did not consider the ITC's finding of nonenablement on appeal. While in the context of a district court case a counterclaim for invalidity is not mooted by a finding of noninfringement, the […]

271(e) safe harbor applies to both product and method claims in ITC proceedings

In a ruling today, the Federal Circuit affirmed in part a decision by the International Trade Commission (ITC) concerning the application of 19 U.S.C. § 1337 and 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(1) to imported products and products imported produced via a patented process. The main issue before the court was whether the safe harbor against infringement […]

ITC’s claim construction reversed, revised construction leads to Section 337 violation

In a decision yesterday, the Federal Circuit reversed a decision of the U.S. International Trade Commission that a violation of § 337 of the 1930 Tarriff Act had not occurred. The court reversed the ITC's claim construction, and based on the revised claim construction, found the accused products infringed. This modified claim construction also resulted […]