Fraudulent Invention Development Company Banned

By Kirk M. Hartung

Last month, the Federal Trade Commission announced the settlement of a lawsuit against an invention development company which permanently enjoins the company from further business due to fraudulent and deceitful conduct with inventors. Scott Cooper and his companies, World Patent Marketing and Desa Industries, Inc., used bogus success stories to get clients to pay thousands […]

Federal Circuit Judges Encourage Congress to Act on Patent Eligibility

By Kirk M. Hartung

Patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C 101 has been a hot topic in the past few years and in view of several U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including the 2014 caseAlice Corp. Pty. Ltd. V. CLS Bank Int’l, 134 S. Ct. 2347.  In Alice, the Supreme Court concluded that abstract ideas are not patentable, absent something more, […]

In Re: Durance

By Blog Staff

In In Re: Durance, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) vacated the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (“PTAB”) ruling affirming an examiner’s obviousness rejection of a patent application related to a microwave vacuum-drying apparatus and method. The CAFC remanded for consideration of the applicants’ reply-brief arguments because they were properly […]

No Sympathy for Samsung

By Gregory Lars Gunnerson

In May, an eight-member California federal jury awarded Apple a staggering $500+ million verdict as a result of a patent litigation lawsuit that has been ongoing for at least 7 years. The verdict has proved to be particularly puzzling for patent law professors and other patent advocates that disagree over whether an article of manufacture in relation […]

USPTO Director Andrei Lancu Takes a Look at Early Prosecution

This week, the USPTO Director, Andrei Iancu, testified before the House Judiciary Committee. In his written statement Director Iancu wrote on topics related to early prosecution that would result in lower costs to clients and would speed up the process of obtaining a patent. A new pilot program that will allow for a pre-search Examiner […]

Design Patents: An Analogy

By Gregory Lars Gunnerson

A recent Webinar moderated by Gene Quinn of IPWatchdog.com titled, “Strategic Use of Design Patents”, analogized a design patent to a tool in a tool box. This analogy is intriguing. For example, a utility patent could be considered a hammer, as it is useful in a wide array of applications and delivers a devastating impact […]

State Agency-Sponsored Pizza? TTAB Rules on New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s Trademark Opposition

By Nicholas J. Krob

Do you often find yourself asking which highway management state agency has the best pizza? Or do you ever show up to a pizza chain, disappointed it isn’t a highway management state agency? If not, a recent decision by the USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board will likely make some sense to you. In 2014, […]

The Federal Circuit Limits Where Corporations “Reside”

By Blog Staff

On May 15, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided In Re: BigCommerce, holding that for the purposes of the patent-specific venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b), a domestic corporation incorporated in a state with multiple judicial districts resides only in the particular judicial district within that state where it […]

USPTO Proposed Rule Change to Adopt the Same Standard for Interpreting Claims in AIA Trials as the US District Courts and ITC

By Blog Staff

The big news of this week in the U.S. patent world is the publication of the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) on May 9, 2018, for “Changes to the Claim Construction Standard for Interpreting Claims in Trial Proceedings Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)”. The USPTO […]

National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard rules publish May 4: Ties to patent protection and gene editing

By Cassie J. Edgar

National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard rules publish May 4: Ties to patent protection and gene editing   In 2016 Congress passed an amendment to the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish a national bioengineered food disclosure standard. This law was an important milestone in establishing transparency for consumers, ensuring labeling certainty for innovators developing […]