Intellectual Property Law

Patent Shorts

Posted on January 06, 2008
USPTO Gets Funding Increase - the PTO has received a budget increase of about 9 percent for the government's 2008 fiscal year. The Office received the president's full funding request of $1.9 billion in a budget bill passed by the U...

Leahy, Hatch Address Patent Reform Act for 2008

Posted on December 28, 2007
On December 18, Senators Patrick Leahy and Orrin Hatch briefly addressed the Senate version (S. 1145) of the Patent Reform Act during a floor speech. While the speeches were not very detailed, they suggested two things - (1) the Senate wants to move as quickly as possible on the Patent Refrom Act, and (2) the pending legislation will have numerous changes before it is put up for a vote...

Public Interest Groups File Amicus in *Support* Of Continuation Rules in ED Va.

Posted on December 26, 2007
Eleven Public Interest groups recently filed a collective amicus brief in the E.D. Va., supporting the PTO's position on the continuation rule changes. The brief borrowed heavily from Lemley & Moore's 2004 paper titled "Ending Abuse of Patent Continuations" and the FTC's 2003 report to conclude that limiting continuations will help the public interest:To be sure, while there is indeed a strong public interest in supporting innovation, that does not mean that incentives for patents should always be raised without considering the corresponding cost to society...

Happy Holidays From the 271 Blog!

Posted on December 20, 2007
U.S. Patent 7,258,592 - "Santa Claus visit kit" 1. A kit for creating an illusion that suggests a Santa Claus visit in a premises, said kit comprising:a) items revealed to a child audience comprisingi) a displayer Christmas diorama that, when assembled, at least partly bounds a region in which small items can be placed, said diorama having a plurality of panels, a first image being imprinted on one of said panels; ii) amusement items for use by at least a member of said child audience in carrying out steps that said child audience is invited to believe will assist Santa Claus in making said visit; and b) items at least temporarily concealed from the child audience, said concealed items comprising means for making boot print resembling marks to mark an illusionary trail of Santa Claus in said premises and a card having a second image, the second image being similar to the first image but also containing a representation of Santa Claus...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Litigation Statistics Suggest China's IPR Progressing for Plaintiffs

Posted on December 19, 2007
Will Lewis, student at the University of San Diego School of Law, engaged in some recent number-crunching to get a sense on the state of IP enforcement in China. Basically, Lewis took IP cases from the Beijing Courts, Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, Jiangsu Courts, and Zhejiang Courts, segregated cases having domestic-only parties from cases having at least one foreign entity, and tabulated the outcomes of the cases...

ED Va.: Continuations Count as "Original Applications" For the Purposes of the AIPA

Posted on December 18, 2007
Cooper Technologies Co. v. John W. Dudas (1:07cv853) (November 30, 2007)Cooper sued for infringement on two patents, where one patent (filed in 2003) was the last of a series of continuations dating back to 1994. The defendant filed an inter-partes reexamination request with the PTO, seeking to invalidate the continuation patent...

USPTO: Telework Is the Answer

Posted on December 18, 2007
Deborah S. Cohn, acting PTO chief administrative officer, writes in the Federal Times:We have seen that a successful telework program can result in greater employee productivity and performance, reduced traffic congestion and air pollution, and reduced real estate costs...

Study Shows USPTO Backlog Is Tied More to Non-Final Actions, and Not Continuations

Posted on December 14, 2007
George Mason University Assistant Professor of Systems Engineering & Operations Yifan Liu and J.D. Candidate Ayal Sharon reviewed the backlog problem at the PTO, and applied a "queueing theory" analysis to filings to determine where the problems may lie...

AUTM Releases Report on University Tech Transfer

Posted on December 13, 2007
The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) has released its latest survey on technology licensing and related activity for U.S. academic and nonprofit institutions and technology investment firms.According to the report, university tech transfer is booming...

OMB Approves IDS Rule Changes for PTO

Posted on December 12, 2007
The OMB completed its review of the IDS Rules and published its approval on RegInfo.gov (link). From the website:Title: Changes to Information Disclosure Statement Requirements and Other Related MattersAbstract: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Office) amends its regulations on information disclosure statement (IDS) requirements and other related matters to improve the quality and efficiency of the examination process...

Applicants Question PTO's Focus on "Compact Prosecution" In Upcoming Reform Measures

Posted on December 11, 2007
One of the most important aspects of patent prosecution and application pendency is the the concept of "compact prosecution", which is described in MPEP § 2106(II):It is essential that patent applicants obtain a prompt yet complete examination of their applications...

Peterlin Lawsuit Dismissed in the DC District Court

Posted on December 10, 2007
Aharonian v. Gutierrez (07-1224) December 6, 2007Earlier this year, Aharonian and other plaintiffs complained that the appointment of MargaretPeterlin to the position of Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office was unlawful because she is not a ?citizen of the United States who has a professional background and experience in patent or trademark law...

USPTO's Patent Advisory Committee Releases Annual Report

Posted on December 07, 2007
The Patent Public Advisory Committee (PAC) was created to advise Congress on the policies, goals, performance, budget and user fees of the USPTO with respect to patents. The Committee is charged with preparing an annual report that is submitted to the Secretary of Commerce, the President, and the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and the House of Representatives...

Are Opinions of Counsel Truly "Irrelevant" Under Seagate?

Posted on December 07, 2007
That's the question being asked in the case of Dell v. Lucent Technologies (E.D. Tex, 4:03-cv-347), where Lucent has filed a Motion In Limine to preclude Dell from mentioning to the jury that Lucent did not rely on an opinion of counsel in defense of Dell's willful infringement allegations...

BIO Submits USPTO's Annual Report to Congress

Posted on December 06, 2007
After releasing the 2007 annual report, the PTO remarked in the report that the Office achieved "record breaking year-end numbers that reveal historic improvement in the quality of patent and trademark reviews and subsequently the quality of issued patents and registered trademarks" (see earlier 271 Blog post here)...

W.D. Wisconsin: "Significant Support" for Non-Infringement Vitiates Willfulness

Posted on December 05, 2007
Franklin Electric Co., Inc. v. Dover Corp. (05-C-598-S), November 15, 2007Franklin sued Dover for infringing its patents related to underground tanks. The district court found in favor of Dover on summary judgment, ruling that Dover's products did not infringe...

LES Launches Certified Licensing Professional (CLP) Program

Posted on December 05, 2007
The Licensing Executive Society has created a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP) certification, which is is a professional designation intended to distinguish those who have demonstrated "experience, proficiency, knowledge and understanding of licensing and commercialization of intellectual property through involvement in patenting, marketing, negotiation, legal, and intellectual asset management...

IRS Looking at New Taxable Category Based on Patents

Posted on December 04, 2007
FromFederal Register / Vol. 72, No. 186 / Wednesday, September 26, 2007 / Proposed Rules:[T]he IRS and Treasury Department continue to be concerned about the patentingof tax advice or tax strategies and believe that adding a new category of reportable transaction to the section 6011 regulations for patented transactions will assist the IRS and Treasury Department in obtaining disclosures of tax avoidance transactions and in providing effective tax administration...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.