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Top 10 Patent Drafting Mistakes That Can Impact Litigation
Part One of a Two-Part Series
Discussed below are the first five of the “Top 10 Patent Drafting Mistakes” that drafters often make that can impact the successful enforceability of patents. Many of these mistakes are derived from the recognition of the challenges a patent may be subjected to in litigation, a forum in which accused infringers invariably scrutinize and challenge all aspects of a patent and its prosecution while lay judges and jurors struggle to determine whether the patent ultimately has value.
A patent that is drafted from the outset to pre-empt these potential challenges is a more defendable patent that will be more likely to produce a favorable result for the patent owner. Moreover, a patent drafted with an awareness of the ultimate role judges and jurors play is similarly more likely to result in licensing and/or litigation successes. These 10 topics, discussed below and next month, take into account both of these important considerations. Recognizing and avoiding these 10 mistakes may pay huge dividends in the future in making your patents more easily defended, and therefore, successfully licensable and litigable. Additionally, incorporating these reminders into your current patent practices (or having your outside counsel incorporate these into its practices) should not add expense to the drafting process, but rather should better guarantee that the money spent on patent drafting is well spent on valuable, defendable assets.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Stranger to the Deed Rule
In 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.