After-the-fact Patent Assignment Too Late to Save Jurisdiction A patent assignment that was prepared after a patent infringement law suit was commenced was too late to save jurisdiction the Federal Circuit held in Abraxis Bioscience, Inc. v. Navinta LLC. Because the plaintiff did not obtain ownership of the patents at issue until after the lawsuit was commenced, the plaintiff lacked standing at the […] Continue Reading →
USPTO proposes tiered system for patent application examination speed In a press release today, the USPTO has proposed a tiered examination system where applicants could choose to pay a higher fee in exchange for quicker examination of an application or could opt for a delay of up to 30 months before docketing for examination. This is the latest in Director Kappos' attempts to control […] Continue Reading →
Claim and continuation rules dead: thousands of practitioners breathe easier In a Federal Register notice today, the USPTO has officially withdrawn the claim and continuation rule changes from the Code of Federal Regulations. This is consistent with a press release from Thursday announcing the rules were no longer going to be pursued. The summary of the notice: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) […] Continue Reading →
USPTO announces e-Office Action program for patent applications In a press release, the USPTO announced the availability of the e-Office Action program for patent applications. Under the program, applicants or attorneys may sign up to receive an email notice when an office action is mailed in an application, and can then download the office action from Private PAIR. This avoids the time delay […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit to hear claim and continuation rule case en banc In an order this afternoon, the Federal Circuit agreed to hear en banc Tafas v. Doll, the case challenging the USPTO's claim and continuation rules. Back in March, a panel of the court held, in a 2-1 decision, the limits on continuation applications were invalid, but the remainder of the rules were not invalid, at […] Continue Reading →
Patent Reform Act of 2009 back before Senate Judiciary Committee today to consider compromise Today at 10:00 Eastern time the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an executive business meeting to discuss the Patent Reform Act of 2009. The committee will consider some proposed amendments that represent a compromise on several key issues that have been points of contention over the course of the past several years when patent reform […] Continue Reading →
Patent reform back again for 2009 Yesterday Senators Patrick Leahy and Orrin Hatch (chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee) and Representatives John Conyers and Lamar Smith (chairman and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee) introduced the Patent Reform Act of 2009. Click below for more detail of the newly-introduced legislation, as well as links to other coverage […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit holds oral arguments in claim and continuation limit rules case On Friday, the Federal Circuit heard oral argument in the consolidated cases challenging the USPTO's new claim and continuation limit rules. You can download the audio of the arguments here. While it is, of course, too early to tell whether the Federal Circuit will affirm the permanent injunction against implementation of the rules, the tenor […] Continue Reading →
Patent litigation by the numbers PricewaterhouseCoopers recently published its annual litigation study entitled 2008 Patent Litigation Study: Damages awards, success rates and time-to-trial. The study examined a wide range of variables pertaining to patent litigation from 1995 to 2007. With the number of patents granted increasing every year, the number of patent cases has continued to grow. Also, with the […] Continue Reading →
USPTO publishes new rules for ex parte appeals before the BPAI In today's Federal Register, the USPTO has posted revised rules of practice for ex parte appeals before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. These are the final version of the rules initially proposed nearly a year ago. The rules were hinted at in a press release issued by the USPTO yesterday, and now we […] Continue Reading →