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Features

To Develop a Patent Portfolio, Get Active Image

To Develop a Patent Portfolio, Get Active

Christopher M. Tobin & Lanny Vincent

You've conveyed the importance of developing a patent portfolio within your company, hired an IP manager, initiated an inventor incentive program, and budgeted for the costs of protecting your company's IP. Now, you are beginning to wonder where all the inventions are.

Vague Claim Construction Rules Lead to Reversals Image

Vague Claim Construction Rules Lead to Reversals

Lewis R. Clayton

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 &mdash;interpretations of the meaning of patent claims &mdash; 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).

Features

Maximizing Your Patent Prosecution Dollars: A Few Simple Considerations Image

Maximizing Your Patent Prosecution Dollars: A Few Simple Considerations

Benjamin Hershkowitz

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.

News from the FDA Image

News from the FDA

ALM Staff & Law Journal Newsletters

The latest information for use in your practice, including rulings, draft guidances, seminars, and more.

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Case Briefing Image

Case Briefing

ALM Staff & Law Journal Newsletters

Recent rulings of importance to your practice.

Features

New Regs for Reprocessed Single-Use Devices Image

New Regs for Reprocessed Single-Use Devices

Ashley Cummings & Matthew J. Calvert

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.

Features

Counterfeit Drugs: A New Source of Product Liability? Image

Counterfeit Drugs: A New Source of Product Liability?

Peter Glass

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.

Features

How to Sell a Coaching Program to Your Firm Image

How to Sell a Coaching Program to Your Firm

Phyllis Weiss Haserot

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.

Ask The Coach Image

Ask The Coach

Mike O'Horo

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?

On The Job <B>Hiring Process Leads to Good Staffing Decisions</b> Image

On The Job <B>Hiring Process Leads to Good Staffing Decisions</b>

Russell Lawson

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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