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USPTO Accelerated Examination: A Pre-Litigation Strategy
In August 2006, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ('USPTO') launched an Accelerated Exam system promising significantly reduced prosecution times. Despite the lure of expedited patents, after 18 months, the Accelerated Exam procedure has been little used while receiving criticism from patent practitioners. This article explores the advantages achieved by using the Accelerated Exam procedure as a pre-litigation strategy. By filing claims tailored to the infringing device under the Accelerated Exam procedure, an applicant can get the infringer in court more quickly, strengthen its validity position, and potentially reduce litigation costs.
The filing requirements for an Accelerated Exam patent application are arduous. Among those most discussed in the patent community are a limit on the number of claims, a pre-examination search requirement, and an accelerated examination support document. Patent practitioners have opined that these requirements create an unjustifiable option when balancing risk and cost against potential benefit. In the context of obtaining a patent focused on enforcement against an identified party, the accelerated exam procedure provides an alternative for quickly obtaining claims that may be tailored to the infringer and easier to defend.
The Requirements
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 Anti-Assignment Override Provisions
UCC Sections 9406(d) and 9408(a) are one of the most powerful, yet least understood, sections of the Uniform Commercial Code. On their face, they appear to override anti-assignment provisions in agreements that would limit the grant of a security interest. But do these sections really work?