Petitioning the Director: Why? When? By Gregory Lars Gunnerson Typically, patent attorneys are privileged to work side by side with examiners who embrace the collaborative relationship that exists between patent applicants and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). It is typical for examiners and patent attorneys to initially disagree on legal and/or technical issues which relate to the claims of a patent […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit Sets Limits on Precise Values Included in Claims By Luke T. Mohrhauser The Federal Circuit recently reversed a decision of the United States District Court for the Easter District, overturning an award of damages and decision of infringement in a case between rival boat makers, Brunswick Corp. and Cobalt Boats. In doing so, the Court decided that the claims included precise values without any qualifying terms, and […] Continue Reading →
Possible Action on Reversing Recent Denial of Software, Business, and Medical Inventions as “Ineligible” for U.S. Patents By Mark D. Hansing A progression of court decisions over the last decade, including from the United States Supreme Court, virtually eliminated patents on most software, business methods, medical testing and diagnosis innovations. For example, with respect to software-related innovations, if they (1) did not improve the functioning of computers (e.g. make them run faster) or (2) improve some […] Continue Reading →
First Draft from Congress on Section 101 Reform By Kirk M. Hartung On Wednesday May 22, 2019, the Senate and House Subcommittees on Intellectual Property released for comment their initial draft of legislative reform for Section 101 of the patent statutes. The biggest focus of this proposed legislation is an abolishment of the Supreme Court’s judicially created exceptions to patent eligibility, namely, abstract ideas, laws of nature, […] Continue Reading →
Expanded Trademark Rights for Some Hemp-Related Products and Services By Christine Lebron-Dykeman Following up on the May 10, 2019, MVS Filewrapper post “Big Changes Ahead for Plant Variety Protection (PVP)”, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has also recently issued some guidance on how the 2018 Farm Bill affect trademark applications for cannabis and CBD products. Per the guidelines issued May 2, 2019, the USPTO […] Continue Reading →
Big Changes Ahead for Plant Variety Protection (PVP) By Heidi Sease Nebel The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been hard at work developing regulations to implement the 2018 Farm Bill. The Bill introduces unprecedented changes to the United States PVP system with respect to asexually reproduced plants and hemp. Proposed regulations to implement changes for asexually reproduced plants will soon be published for comment. Those […] Continue Reading →
How to Prevent Theft of Your Corporate Intellectual Property in the Era of Data Privacy and Cybersecurity By Sarah M.D. Luth Intellectual property (IP) theft of corporate intellectual property can have significant ramifications for businesses and other entities. Corporate IP includes a variety of assets, such as patented technologies, trade secrets, copyrighted information and marketing materials, marketing and pricing plans, customer and partner data, and business reputation. IP assets play a valuable role in a business’s […] Continue Reading →
Markman for §101 Eligibility By Kirk M. Hartung Patent attorneys know the importance of Markman as applied to interpret patent claims. Claim interpretation is critical to infringement and validity analysis, and often is decisive in patent litigation. It is axiomatic that claim terms be construed using the common, ordinary meaning of the words, as understood by a person having ordinary skill in the […] Continue Reading →
Linn-Mar Student Wins 2019 MVS Agriculture Award at Invent Iowa Competition By Gregory Lars Gunnerson On April 15, 2019, I had the pleasure of attending the Invent Iowa 2019 Competition. Invent Iowa is hosted annually by the Belin-Blank Center of the University of Iowa’s College of Education. Invent Iowa is a competition which allows students K-8 to pitch a three-minute presentation about their inventions to volunteer judges and other students, […] Continue Reading →
Change is Coming to Alice: Examiners with the Highest Percentage of Alice Rejections, 2014-2017 By Blog Staff Last week, Heidi S. Nebel, Managing Member and Chair of the Biotechnology & Chemical practice group, announced our new software partnership with Juristat as an added service to our clients. Below is an article that Juristat posted regarding Alice rejections that we felt was very important to share. This insight and knowledge from Juristat coupled […] Continue Reading →