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Don’t change horses in midstream: Patentee held to claim construction position taken at lower court

The Federal Circuit ruled today that a patentee could not argue a different claim construction than that argued before the district court. Because of this, the court affirmed the lower court’s grant of summary judgment of noninfringement against the patent holder. Also, the court held that the patent holder did have standing to bring the […]

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Where is the real “Icebox of the Nation”?

In what can only be described as a chilling trademark dispute, the cities of International Falls, Minnesota and Fraser, Colorado are battling over the right to call their respective cities the "Icebox of the Nation." At issue is International Falls' trademark registration, number 1599660, for "COLD WEATHER TESTED CITY OF INTERNATIONAL FALLS IN THE ICEBOX […]

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Patent reform legislation: is this year the year?

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the possibility of reform of the U.S. Patent system. Given that the title of the hearing was “American Innovation at Risk: The Case for Patent Reform,” it’s easy to surmise that the general theme of the hearing was that reform is needed. Dennis Crouch at Patently-O […]

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Second Circuit: revisions to Federal Trademark Dilution Statute revive Starbucks claim

The Second Circuit recently ruled that coffee giant Starbucks could proceed with its trademark dilution case against a defendant using the mark “Mr. Charbucks.” In 2005, the lower court found after a bench trial that Starbucks had not proven actual dilution of its trademark, the requirement under the earlier version of the statute. The statute […]

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Federal Circuit accepts rare interlocutory claim construction appeal

Today the Federal Circuit accepted an interlocutory appeal from a district court relating to patent claim construction. Because of the rarity of such a decision by the Federal Circuit, the court felt compelled to explain, in a precedential order, why it was accepting the order, and so members of the bar wouldn’t get their hopes […]

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Fourth Circuit a “maddening mixture of getting some things right and some things very very wrong”

William Patry, author of a treatise on copyright law, has an interesting post on his copyright law blog about a decision yesterday in the Fourth Circuit. The facts of the case are relatively simple the plaintiff owned a copyright on some architectural plans that the defendant obtained an unauthorized copy of. The defendant used the […]

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House passes pilot program for judges to volunteer for patent cases

Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.34, a bill that would establish a pilot program that would enable district court judges who want to hear patent cases to volunteer for such cases as well as receive additional training on patent law. The bill now moves to the Senate, where some expect it will also […]

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Happy National Inventors’ Day!

Today is National Inventors' Day, a day to celebrate the contributions that inventors have brought into our lives. National Inventors' Day is today (February 11) because it is also the birthday of one of the most prolific inventors of all time, Thomas Alva Edison, who was awarded 1,097 patents over the course of his lifetime, […]

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Inventors Hall of Fame announces 2007 inductees

The National Inventors Hall of Fame has announced this year’s inductees. In all, 16 inventors were inducted, 7 living and 9 posthumously. Those honored include: Paul Baran and Donald Davies for digital packet switching Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield for Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Emmett Chappelle for Bioluminescence techniques Leroy Hood for the automated DNA […]

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