patent

We are now in the tail end of the season where millions of America brave wintry weather, TSA pat downs, and slow airplane wifi to spend quality time with loved ones. If gingerbread cookies and holiday shopping get old, you simply need a short break from a Top Gear marathon, ...

Amidst current discussions on the “problem” posed by software patents, David Kappos, Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), recently delivered a speech defending the existence of such patents. Kappos argued that innovations in the software industry are no less worthy of patent protection compared to other inventions, and ...

On June 29, 2012, Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the European Council, announced that twenty-five of the twenty-seven Member States of the European Union (EU) finally reached an agreement concerning the creation of a unitary patent system. Anticipated for more than thirty years, the announcement legitimately raised enthusiasm ...

Design patents have not received much press until recently. However, the smartphone industry and fashion houses are increasingly turning to patent law to protect their designs. Recent disputes between Apple and Samsung as well as Lululemon and Calvin Klein illustrate an increased reliance on design patents for market domination. Will ...

The law of patent infringement is governed by 35 U.S.C. § 271. In particular, § 271(a) describes what constitutes infringement: Except as otherwise provided in this title, whoever without authority makes, uses, offers to sell, or sells any patented invention, within the United States or imports into the United States any patented ...

Overview On May 25, 2011, the Federal Circuit issued its en banc opinion in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson and Co., radically changing the legal landscape of the inequitable conduct doctrine. In creating these new standards, the Therasense majority aimed to balance the competing goals of encouraging honesty of applicants ...

In the recent Centocor Ortho Biotech, Inc. v. Abbott Laboratories (PDF), the Federal Circuit found that Defendant Abbott was not liable for patent infringement, on the basis of written description insufficiency. The Federal Circuit emphasized the patent statute’s requirement that an application must contain not only claims that define the ...

35 U.S.C. § 292 is known as the Patent False Marking Statute and contains two subsections. Subsection (a) says that it is unlawful, without the consent of the patentee, “to mark a product with, or use in advertising, a patent number in connection with products that are not patented” or no ...

In Centillion Data Systems, LLC v. Qwest Communications International (PDF), the Federal Circuit limited its doctrine that for patent infringement, “every element” of a claim needs to be infringed by a single party. Legal Background: Patent claims describe the scope of an invention. To infringe on a patent, a party ...

In the recent Uniloc v. Microsoft (PDF), the Federal Circuit made two significant changes to the standards by which a patentee can recover damages from an infringer. First, the court abolished the “25% Rule of Thumb” which had previously been used to calculate reasonable royalty rates, and second, the court ...