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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 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.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
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.
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.