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Means-Plus-Function Claims and Written Description for Priority

InEnOcean GMBH v. Face International Corp., the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded a final order of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) and the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (“Board”) with respect to EnOcean’s U.S. Patent Application No. 10/304,121. The Federal Circuit held (1) the term “receiver” was recited with sufficient structure as […]

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Patent Invalidity Based on Non-Compliant Claims of Priority

InMedtronic Corevalve, LLC v. Edwards Lifesciences Corp., the Federal Circuit affirmed summary judgment of invalidity of the asserted claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,892,281 ("the '281 patent") based on the patent's claimed priority date. Medtronic sued Edwards for infringement of claims 3, 4, 7, 12, 14, and 15 of the '281 patent. The U.S. District […]

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Federal Circuit Clarifies Patent Term Adjustment

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has issued an opinion that provides guidance for how Patent Term Adjustments should be calculated. Between June 2009 and May 2011, Novartis filed four civil lawsuits against the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) in the United States District Court for the […]

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2014 Supreme Court Cases Relating to Intellectual Property

On January 10, 2014 the Supreme Court agreed to review a variety of intellectual property cases in the upcoming session, including two patent cases, a copyright case, and a trademark case (including Lanham Act claim). A brief overview of these cases is provided and more detail will be available once decisions are entered by the […]

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Bring on the New Year – What is in Store for IP in 2014?

Happy New Year to all of our FilewrapperÒ followers! We hope 2013 was a productive year and wish you the best in 2014. As the New Year quickly approaches we would like to share with you a few predictions for 2014 for you to look forward to and for which to prepare! · Increased opportunities […]

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H.R. 3309 – The Innovation Act

On December 5, 2013, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3309, the “Innovation Act”, with bipartisan support by an overwhelming margin of 325-91 votes. H.R. 3309 was drafted to address the perceived growing problem of abusive patent litigation attributed to alleged “patent trolls.” Early next year, the Senate will likely consider a companion bill, S. […]

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Federal Judicial Center – Hot Topics in Patent Litigation

The Federal Judicial Center recently released a Webinar entitled “Hot Topics in Patent Litigation: Actavis, Hatch-Waxman and the Biosimilars Act.” The Webinar focused on recent developments in areas regarding enforcement of patents in the life science area, generic drugs, and generic biologics. The entire webinar is available here; the following are brief highlights: Hatch-Waxman Patent […]

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Unitary Patent – The New European Patent Regime

Starting in 2014, the European Union will provide another option for obtaining patent protection throughout the European Union and a more streamlined approach to enforcing or invalidating patents throughout the EU. In 2012 the European Parliament and European Council approved the “EU unitary patent package,” which establishes the European Unitary Patent and the Unified European […]

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USPTO Proposes Rule Changes for International Design Applications

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is seeking comments on it proposed rules for implementing the provisions of Title I of the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012. The law is the implementing legislation for the 1999 Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (“the Hague Agreement”). The […]

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Flawed Evidence Undercuts “Charbucks” Trademark Suit

In Starbucks Corp. v. Wolfe’s Borough Coffee, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision denying injunctive relief in Starbucks’ trademark case against Black Bear Micro Roastery over Black Bear’s use of “Charbucks” for coffee. Starbucks sued Black Bear in 2001, alleging, among other things, trademark dilution in […]

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