Chief Judge Michel offers additional thoughts on the Patent Reform Act of 2007 Back when the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908 and S. 1145) was first introduced, Chief Judge Paul Michel of the Federal Circuit wrote a letter to Senators Patrick Leahy and Orrin Hatch (the Senate sponsors of the Patent Reform Act of 2007) discussing the practical implications of certain provisions of the bill on […] Continue Reading →
Peer to Patent “community” patent review officially launches The Peer to Patent project (previously blogged about June 7, March 5, and February 28) is now up and running for its one year trial period. As noted previously, only computer-related applications are eligible for this pilot program. Thus far, there are five applications in the system: User selectable management alert format (assigned to Hewlett […] Continue Reading →
Senators express concern over Patent Reform Act of 2007 In a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (which held hearings on the Patent Reform Act of 2007 last week), several Republican members of the committee expressed reservations about the current version of the bill. The contingent, made up of Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Chuck Grassley […] Continue Reading →
Patent Office officially announces pilot plan for submission of prior art by third parties The USPTO yesterday officially announced the institution of a pilot project concerning "public submission of peer reviewed prior art." As we previously blogged on March 5 and February 28, the pilot project will be voluntary, and limited initially to the "computer arts." It will be handled on the Peer-to-Patent website, developed by the Community Patent […] Continue Reading →
Senate hearings on the Patent Reform Act of 2007 As noted previously, the Senate yesterday held hearings on the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1145). The witnesses were: Jon W. Dudas, Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Bruce G. Bernstein, chief intellectual property and licensing officer, InterDigital Communications Corp. Mary Doyle, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary, […] Continue Reading →
Thursday at the Federal Circuit: en banc arguments on the duty of care and waiver of privilege This Thursday, the Federal Circuit will sit en banc to hear oral argument in In re Seagate Technology LLC, a mandamus case regarding a district court's order to produce certain attorney-client privileged materials. (Update (6/7): the audio of the oral argument is now available online at this link.) Like in many patent cases, one of […] Continue Reading →
Senate to hold its first hearings on Patent Reform Act of 2007 While the House subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property (a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee) held hearings on the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908, S. 1145) at the end of April, the Senate is just now getting into the act. On Wednesday, June 6 at 10:00 Eastern time, the full […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit addresses claim construction, on-sale and public use bars, and DJ jurisdiction In a decision Friday, the Federal Circuit vacated in part a district court's claim construction of a several terms as well as its decision to find no infringement of patents owned by Honeywell. The court did, however, affirm the district court's retention of jurisdiction over the several withdrawn claims and the decision that Honeywell's pre-critical […] Continue Reading →
Australia’s High Court weighs in on obviousness There is a good post over at the Patent Prospector about a decision by the High Court of Australia (the equivalent to the U.S. Supreme Court) regarding the issue of obviousness in patent law. One notable passage: as a basic premise, obviousness and inventiveness are antitheses and the question is always "is the step taken […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit affirms damage award to Monsanto against farmer who saved seed In the latest in a series of appeals to the Federal Circuit, the court affirmed a jury's award of damages to Monsanto for infringement of patents relating to glyphosate resistant plants. The defendant, a farmer, had saved seeds from his crops from one growing season to the next in violation of the terms of the […] Continue Reading →