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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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MVS Obtains Juristat Software

By Heidi Sease Nebel

Ever wonder if you have been “blessed” with a difficult Examiner? Wondered if your issue in a case has been successfully resolved in another case? Wondered if your competitors are having the same issues before the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) as you? Wondered how many cases your competitor has filed? Wondered if […]

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CAFC’s Clarification for Using Claim Preambles as Limitation(s)

By Blog Staff

According to the United State Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) precedential opinion decided on March 26, 2019, ARCTIC CAT INC. v. GEP POWER PRODUCTS, INC., the claim preamble terms, such as “A power distribution module for a personal recreational vehicle comprising” or “A personal recreational vehicle comprising”, are not limiting. Two patents […]

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Judicial Exceptions to IP Statutes: Are They Dead?

By Kirk M. Hartung

On January 8, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a case involving the Federal Arbitration Act that could have a significant impact on patent law. The Arbitration Act, signed into law in 1925, allows parties to agree to submit disputes to arbitration, rather than litigating in court. Although, sometimes parties disagree as to whether an arbitration […]

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How Many Patents Are Enough for a Product?

By Blog Staff

The answer to the question of course, depends on the commercial value of the product. However, it is also obvious that the commercial value of a product is closely correlated to the number of patents for its protection. The relationship between commercial value and number of patents is best illustrated by the relevant facts for […]

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Burger King Ribs McDonald’s After Loss of ‘Big Mac’ Trademark in the E.U.

By Sarah M.D. Luth

In mid-January of 2019, McDonald’s lost its rights to the trademark ‘Big Mac’ in a European case which ruled in favor of an Irish fast food chain, Supermac’s. Supermac’s, founded in 1978 by Gaelic football player Pat McDonagh, offers a burger called the ‘Mighty Mac’. McDonald’s asserted that the ‘Mighty Mac’, along with other Supermac’s […]

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