Features

Highlights of the latest intellectual property news from around the country.

Features

A threshold question for each patent filing is the speed at which a patent is desired.

A recent order from the Eastern District of Texas shows that patentees may not be able to calculate damages under the entire market value rule using a simple (<i>market value base ' royalty rate</i>) formula. Such damages calculations may be excluded from trial, leaving the patentee seeking to recover a fraction of the original damages figure.

Many companies require their employees to sign agreements that any inventions they create "during the course of their employment" will belong to the employer. A recent case decided by the Ninth Circuit, however, illustrates why companies should revisit such agreements in order to ensure that the ideas developed by their employees may not be exploited by those employees to the detriment of their employer.

Corporate Counsel take note: On Nov. 3, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") published proposed Regulation 21F (the "Proposed Rules"), establishing a program designed to reward individuals who provide the SEC with information leading to successful enforcement actions.

The 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act ("BAPCPA") gave patients of insolvent health care facilities a clear voice in bankruptcy proceedings by creating a new role in bankruptcy cases ' the Patient Care Ombudsman ("PCO").

Troubled banks under the FDIC's jurisdiction often end up in conservatorships or receiverships. But bank holding companies that own U.S. banks can file for bankruptcy. And special rules apply in such cases.

Features

A recent Sixth Circuit opinion may rebuke implicitly a controversial holding of the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel in 2008, holding that the lien-stripping effect of a sale pursuant to ' 363(f)of the Bankruptcy Code could be unwound on appeal.