“Critical” ratio in claim does not get the benefit of the doctrine of equivalents Today’s lesson from the Federal Circuit: be careful not to make a claim limitation “critical,” or you may lose the benefit of the doctrine of equivalents for that element. The court found that the claimed weight ratio of two drugs was critical in part because other claims recited a range of ratios, but the claim […] Continue Reading →
Appeals Court holds Transclean Corporation to its stated position The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided in Transclean v. Jiffy Lube that Transclean should be bound by its repeated statements proffered during the course of litigation and not be allowed to take a contrary position during a second phase of litigation. Transclean is the sole licensee of U.S. Patent No. […] Continue Reading →
Roundup of media coverage of “MedImmune v. Genentech” decision After last week's Supreme Court decision in MedImmune v. Genentech holding a patent licensee in good standing need not breach the license agreement in order to bring a claim that the patent is invalid, not infringed, or unenforceable, the media has begun to offer its perspective on the case. Below is a sampling of the […] Continue Reading →
Trademark “use in commerce” must be lawful to build trademark rights When is a use in commerce not sufficient to build trademark rights? When that use is unlawful. The Ninth Circuit, in a dispute between two manufacturers of antioxidants made from olive extract, held in an issue of first impression in that circuit that unlawful use in commerce cannot support federal trademark rights. This decision agrees […] Continue Reading →
“Trademark” as a trademark? Can the word "trademark" be a trademark itself? Breckenridge Brewery sells Trademark Pale Ale, which raises this interesting issue. Images of Breckenridge's packaging can be seen below: Under trademark law, there is no restriction on use of "trademark" as a trademark, as long as it meets the statutory requirements. For example, a search of USPTO […] Continue Reading →
2006 TTAB year in review John Welch at The TTABlog has compiled a list of all citable opinions of the TTAB in 2006 organized by the substantive legal issue in each decision. This is a useful tool when looking for the most recent TTAB case law on a particular issue. The 57 citable decisions in 2006 are almost double the […] Continue Reading →
Limitations of a Claim Come from the Claim Language Itself In E-Pass Technologies (“E-Pass”) v. 3Com Corp., Palm Inc., palmOne, Inc. and Handspring, Inc. and Visa International Service Association and Visa U.S.A., Inc. and Palmsource, Inc. (“3Com”), the district court’s holding of final summary judgment of non-infringement by 3Com was affirmed by the Federal Circuit. At issue was a patent (“the ‘311 patent”) entitled “Method […] Continue Reading →
Starbucks loses Korean appeal, Starpreya can continue to use name there The Korean Supreme Court today denied an appeal by Starbucks to cancel a rival's trademark there. Specifically, the Court noted that Starbucks was not well-known in Korea when the rival coffee provider (who uses a similar logo) registered its trademark. MVS previously blogged about the appeal here. This case, along with the ongoing saga between […] Continue Reading →
Cisco sues Apple over iPhone trademark Apple, the company that dominates the digital music player market with the iPod, announced this week at the annual MacWorld show in San Francisco that Apple will be entering another lucrative consumer electronics market: the mobile phone. Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced his company's newest offering: the iPhone. Apple's stock increased 10% just from the […] Continue Reading →
Sioux Falls inventor files one millionth electronic trademark application with USPTO The USPTO recently received the one millionth trademark application filed electronically via its TEAS system. It took just under ten years for the one millionth electronic application to be filed, as the TEAS system first became available in November, 1997. The applicant, Donald Junck of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was flown out to the USPTO […] Continue Reading →