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Standing to Assert a U.S. Patent: Do Infringement Actions Belong Solely to the 'Patentee'?
Who can sue on a U.S. patent? The answer is not always as clear-cut as one may think. A patent plaintiff or other party seeking to enforce rights in a U.S. patent portfolio will thus wish to ensure before commencing any such action that he enjoys sufficient legal standing with respect to the patents in his portfolio. Otherwise, a challenge to the plaintiff's legal standing may lead to unexpected chagrin for the would-be asserter of the patent and unlooked-for advantage on the part of the alleged infringer against whom the patent was to be asserted.
35 U.S.C. ' 281 provides that “a patentee shall have remedy by civil action for infringement of his patent.” (emphasis added) This section of the Patent Code provides the statutory basis for standing to sue in a patent case. It may be a source of some surprise, then, to consider how often in practice substantial questions arise regarding the putative patent plaintiff's threshold right to assert the patent at all, or how important it is (for both plaintiff and defendant) to determine at the outset of a possible patent infringement proceeding whether the plaintiff actually has adequate ownership interests in the patent he is purporting to assert.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.
Coverage Issues Stemming from Dry Cleaner Contamination Suits
In recent years, there has been a growing number of dry cleaners claiming to be "organic," "green," or "eco-friendly." While that may be true with respect to some, many dry cleaners continue to use a cleaning method involving the use of a solvent called perchloroethylene, commonly known as perc. And, there seems to be an increasing number of lawsuits stemming from environmental problems associated with historic dry cleaning operations utilizing this chemical.