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Edward H. Phillips v. AWH Corp. et al.: Did the Federal Circuit Change Anything?
The Federal Circuit piqued the interest of the patent bar when it issued its decision granting Edward H. Phillips' petition for rehearing en banc. Edward H. Phillips v. AWH Corp. et al., 376 F.3d 1382 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (“Phillips I“). Patent practitioners expected that the court would finally provide the bar with a clear understanding of how claims should be interpreted and construed. The court's guidance would help not only patent prosecutors so that claims could be crafted with appropriate scope to provide maximum coverage for a client's invention, but also aid patent litigators so that efforts could be focused on specific disputed claim terms and their construction rather than scatter shot attacks on every possible claim term in the hope that one of the shots would hit home. Whether the Federal Circuit provided any guidance to the bar has yet to be determined. However, it is clear that despite the fervent hope of the patent bar, no new law was made with the Phillips en banc decision.
The en banc petition decision directed the parties to address the following seven separate issues relating to claim construction: 1) should dictionaries be used as sources to interpret a claim term; 2) should technical dictionaries be consulted before general usage dictionaries; 3) should the specification limit the scope of the claim language; 4) should the specification be used to interpret the claims of the patent rather than a dictionary; 5) should claims be interpreted to avoid invalidity; 6) what role should prosecution history or expert testimony play in determining the meaning of disputed claim terms; and 7) should the trial court be accorded deference in claim construction rulings. Phillips I, 376 F.3d at 1383. All of these questions, with the exception of the last, were touched upon in the en banc decision. A summary of the case follows.
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?
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.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
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.