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Why can't federal trial judges figure out what patents mean? As it held en banc in <i>Cybor Corp. v. FAS Technologies, Inc.</i>, 138 F3d 1448 (Fed. Cir. 1998), district court rulings on claim construction —interpretations of the meaning of patent claims — are reviewed de novo as questions of law by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A recent study concluded that more than 40% of all claim construction rulings reviewed by the Federal Circuit in 2001 were reversed in whole or part. Andrew T. Zidel, "Patent Claim Construction in the Trial Courts: A Study Showing the Need for Clear Guidance from the Federal Circuit," 33 Seton Hall L. Rev. 711 (2003).
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According to the statistics released by the USPTO (available online at <i>www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/reports.htm)</i>, approximately 326,508 utility patent applications were filed in 2001 in the United States and 166,045 utility patents were granted. The cost associated with the preparation and prosecution of patent applications last year was a multi-billion dollar business. In this era of cost controls, it is rare to find a patent prosecution department that is not subject to budgetary constraints. In-house patent counsel, as the gatekeepers for prosecution, need to select and work with outside patent counsel to maximize the return on their patent prosecution investment.
The latest information for use in your practice, including rulings, draft guidances, seminars, and more.
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Recent rulings of importance to your practice.
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Single-use medical devices (SUDs) are designed and approved by the FDA to be used once and thrown away. The practice of cleaning and reusing disposable medical devices has resulted from hospitals' continuing search for cost-cutting alternatives. The safety and efficacy of reprocessing SUDs has been the subject of significant - and heated - debate.
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Drug counterfeiting robs pharmaceutical manufacturers of their investment in patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade dress. It robs pharmacists and consumers of money, for worthless and sometimes dangerous products. It undermines the integrity of and consumer confidence in the American health care industry and in the government's ability to regulate it. More troubling than all these systemic evils, drug counterfeiting has the potential to allow controllable illnesses to ravage patients unchecked, to spread rather than stop disease, and to injure and kill.
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You've seen or experienced the benefits of coaching firsthand. Now you want to persuade your firm to institute a coaching program for business development and/or general professional development. How do you go about it? The best approach is one that combines rational arguments, strategic "lobbying" and appeals to the ultimate decision-makers - in a way that best matches each individual's personal style.
This month's question:<BR>We occasionally receive RFPs for work that we really don't want. How can we gracefully phrase the "thanks but no thanks" letter?
Whether you're building a marketing staff, replacing departing employees or expanding the skill sets available for your firm, you'll make better hires if you use a few simple steps to clarify and control the process.
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Imagine, for a moment that, instead of being an attorney, you are a pile of tea. I'm fairly certain no one has ever asked you to do so before, but bear with me. You are a pile of tea. Not a big pile. A few ounces. And, truth be told, you aren't much different than any other pile of tea. You might be a slightly different flavor. You might be decaffeinated. And, while tea connoisseurs might disagree, to almost everyone else, let's face it, tea is tea. Now, here's your choice: You can put yourself in a generic box with the local supermarket chain's logo on it and sell on aisle 14 for $1.99, or you can pack yourself into a fancy white box decorated with Japanese higura characters with delicate cranes and bonsai trees, call yourself Tazo, and sell at Starbucks for $4.99.