Patent Law

Pass the Glue

Posted on February 02, 2008
In F&G Research v. Dynapoint (Taiwan), the CAFC ruled Allen D. Brufsky a scumbag: having "significantly misrepresented the facts," relying on "vague allegations without basis in the record," and showing "a willingness to mislead the court...

Voiceover

Posted on February 01, 2008
David Sitrick sued movie makers DreamWorks and Warner Brothers for infringing 5,553,864 and 6,425,825, which claim integrating a user's voice or imagery into a pre-existing video game or movie. The district court process was fitful, but the judge granted summary judgment: invalidity for lack of enablement for movies, though having no problem with enablement for video games...

Trustworthiness

Posted on January 31, 2008
In January 2005, Rambus sued memory chip makers Hynix, Micron, and Nanya for infringing more than a dozen patents. The defendants fought back with a goon ringer: the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC, among other things, produced a scathing 120-page liability opinion, which the memory makers want entered into evidence for their patent litigation...

Justification, Please

Posted on January 31, 2008
From a study prepared for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO): There is a lack of evidence that justifies overhauling the patent system in a way that could potentially disrupt the incentives of industries that rely on patents to innovate... The empirical data which is being used to justify the need for overhaul either has serious methodological limitations or is non-existent...

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Trying to Change the Channel

Posted on January 31, 2008
TiVo successfully sued EchoStar for infringing 6,233,389, claiming time-shifted TV program recording and playback; a jury finding finding infringement for both software and hardware claims, awarding $74 million in damages. EchoStar had an injunction stayed pending appeal...

Outlet Inclusion

Posted on January 30, 2008
Oatey sued IPS for infringing its patent on residential washing machine outlet boxes, 6,148,850. After Markman, the district court granted summary judgment of non-infringement, based on a claim construction excluding a depicted embodiment. The exclusion was excluded on appeal...

Restraint

Posted on January 30, 2008
American Seating sued USSC Group for infringing 5,888,038, claiming a wheelchair restraint system for buses. On the second wheeling to the appeals court, invalidity by prior public use and lost profits damages were the issues....

On the Clam

Posted on January 30, 2008
Barracuda Networks is crying for a lifeline from the open source software community in its patent infringement fight with Trend Micro. That cry is being answered with lofty words; factual ballast not in evidence....

Outside Looking In

Posted on January 29, 2008
Gernot Pehnelt wonders in the DesMoinesRegister why the U.S. Congress is hell-bent to deform the patent regime. The American system is regarded as the strongest protector of patent rights in the world. Unfortunately, the U.S. Congress is considering "reforming" the system...

Holey Bone

Posted on January 29, 2008
Trimed sued Stryker for infringing its bone fracture fixer patent: 5,931,839. Claim construction fractured the assertion, resulting in a noninfringement summary judgment. Trimed had the misconstruction mended on appeal. The spat was over the structure of a hole...

Dr. PatentLove

Posted on January 28, 2008
or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love Proposed Damages Apportionment Law The blawgosphere is alive with discussion of proposed patent reform.  Patent Troll Tracker today mocked Dennis Crouch for his support of the status quo.  Here at Patent Prospector, we maintain a healthy amount of skepticism about the proposed legislation...

Troll This

Posted on January 28, 2008
In the semiconductor patent litigation of Rambus versus Hynix, Samsung, Nanya and Micron: Judge Ronald Whyte in the Northern District of California ruled in favor of Rambus's in limine motion "to preclude the use of derogatory characterizations of patents and patentholders, granting the motion as to the term ?patent troll? and limiting the use of the term ?submarine patent...

Earmarked

Posted on January 28, 2008
Daiichi Sankyo sued Apotex for infringing 5,401,741, which was found obvious on appeal. In securing a temporary injunction at the outset of litigation, Daiichi had posted a $5 million security deposit. New Jersey district court judge Susan Wigenton last week awarded the deposit to Apotex, "to recover damages for wrongful injunction...

Fighting Criminal Action

Posted on January 28, 2008
Last week, Triantafyllos Tafas filed an opposition brief to the USPTO's summary judgment motion in the matter of stopping implementation of the agency's proposed rules limiting patent filings and examination. Tafas backed with evidence alleged lies and cover-up by PTO management in its totalitarian approach to rulemaking...

Reminder

Posted on January 27, 2008
In the Christian Science Monitor, Alexander Poltorak, CEO of General Patent Corporation, reminds Congress of the fundamental nature of patents, and reminds us of the craven corruption of our elected officials in sucking up to a narrow but well-moneyed special interest...

Ni Nihongo

Posted on January 27, 2008
Translations of select entries in The Patent Prospector are available in Japanese....

Corn Pone

Posted on January 26, 2008
Monsanto brought a declaratory judgment action against Bayer Bioscience to preclude infringement for its transgenic corn products. It worked: the patents were found both non-infringed and invalid by inequitable conduct. Bayer's appeals were futile....

Fools Gold

Posted on January 26, 2008
In a drive to have abstraction triumph over reality, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) thinks it can develop an international standard for patent valuation. It's an academic economist's wet dream....

Cash Cow Killed

Posted on January 25, 2008
N-Data bought 5,617,418 and 5,687,174, claiming autonegotiation Ethernet switches. The original owner, National Semiconductor, had agreed to license the patent for a song if the technology was adopted as a standard, which it was; now a widely adopted IEEE standard called NWay...

Indefinite Drilling

Posted on January 25, 2008
Halliburon sued M-I for infringing 6,887,832, claiming oil drilling using fragile gels for drilling fluid. The problem was that "fragile gel" was ill-defined, leading to invalidity under 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶ 2. Irresolvable ambiguity to one skilled in the art is the yardstick of indefiniteness...

Heavy Drinking

Posted on January 25, 2008
Having wet its whistle on everyone's favorite VOIP patent whipping post, Vonage, Sprint Nextel is ringing the bell for more rounds against an itty-bitty bevy of mobile phone service providers: Big River Telephone, Broadvox, NuVox, and Paetec Communications were plastered in four separate lawsuits...

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