US Copyright office issues new exemptions from DMCA Every three years, the United States Copyright Office seeks proposals for exemptions from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). The DMCA was enacted in 1998. As part of the DMCA, it became unlawful to circumvent access control measures copyright holders used to secure their copyrighted works. For example, it is a violation of the DMCA […] Continue Reading →
Majority of Federal Circuit appears ready to reconsider claim construction standard of review Today the Federal Circuit denied rehearing en banc in Amgen, Inc. v. Hoechst Marion Roussel, Inc., a case dealing with synthetic human erythropoietin, a protein that stimulates red blood cell production. In order to rehear a case en banc, a majority of active judges on the court must vote to rehear the case. There are […] Continue Reading →
Enablement standard for prior art less stringent than enablement standard for patents The Federal Circuit, in Impax Laboratories, Inc. v. Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc., discussed the requirements for a prior art reference to be enabled, and thus anticipate a patent. Aventis is the owner of U.S. Patent No. 5,527,814, covering the use of the compound riluzole to treat ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Impax wanted to […] Continue Reading →
Showing a strong Spine, the Federal Circuit addresses the Doctrine of Equivalents In DuPuy Spin, Inc. v. Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Inc., the Federal Circuit concluded that the district court erred in granting summary judgment of non-infringement on Medtronics Vertex? model with regards to U.S. Patent No. 5,207,678 (the ‘678 patent). Additionally, the Federal Circuit concluded that the district court’s judgment of non-infringement for Medtronics bottom-loaded screw device […] Continue Reading →
Washington Apple Commission takes on Chinese trademark office The Washington Apple Commission has filed suit against the Chinese Trademark Review and Adjudication Board over its refusal to register a trademark. The mark at issue is shown below:This mark is registered in the United States, but in China, "well-known" geographical names cannot be used as trademarks unless there is also another meaning. The Apple […] Continue Reading →
Analysis of overall appearance determines whether patented design is dictated by function In PHG Technologies, LLC v. St. John Companies, Inc., the Federal Circuit vacated the preliminary injunction of the district court finding St. John raised a substantial questions of validity of the two patents-at-issue. At issue were two design patents owned by PHG: the ‘405 and ‘197 patents. The ‘405 and ‘197 patents depend from a […] Continue Reading →
Jimmy Buffett sues website owner for trademark infringement Singer Jimmy Buffett has Continue Reading →
02 Micro takes strike three 02 Micro International Limited and 02 Micro, Inc. (collectively “02 Micro”) recently appealed a Northern District of California district court’s grant of summary judgment of non-infringement in favor of Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (“MPS”) to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 02 Micro contended that the district court errored in denying […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit reverses claim construction but affirms infringement Abraxis Bioscience (formerly AstraZeneca) is the holder of three patents on an improved formulation of an anesthetic, DIPRIVAN?. Prior formulations had the problem of increasing postoperative infections. The inventors discovered that by adding disodium edetate as an antimicrobial agent. This addition allowed DIPRIVAN? to be administered for up to 24 hours without a significant increased […] Continue Reading →
Two patents held obvious, “no question” that motivation to combine references existed Optivus Technology sued Ion Beam Applications (IBA) for infringing its patents relating to the use of proton beams in cancer therapy, and specifically to proton beam therapy facilities with multiple treatment rooms using the same proton source. In addition to patent infringement, Optivus also claimed violations of California and Florida unfair competition laws and a […] Continue Reading →