One of the many elements of the sweeping America Invents Act of 2012 (AIA) was a directive to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting a report on factors affecting patent litigation. The GAO released its report in August. Perhaps surprisingly, the GAO found that NPEs were not the main contributor to alleged problems with patent litigation in the United States. Instead, the GAO concluded that poor patent quality was to blame for most nuisance infringement suits.

Features

A federal judge in Minnesota signed off on a hotly contested $50 million settlement between the National Football League and former players who said the league infringed their publicity rights. The ruling was a blow to a group of plaintiffs' lawyers who lodged objections to the deal, calling it inadequate.

Columns & Departments

New Patent Litigation Reform Bills Introduced <br>U.S. Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument on Burden Of Proof for Licensee-DJ Plaintiff<br>A Split Federal Circuit Denies En Banc Rehearing In Case Involving Finality Of a Judicial Decision<br>Federal Circuit Explains Exhaustion of Method Patents

Television ratings go up and down, even for the most successful programs. This complicates how to value a production company's worth if that company is sold.

Features

For those who have had some exposure to <i>Total Quality Management</i>, the reference to <i>Lean</i> or <i>Lean Six Sigma</i> might be familiar. Total Quality Management (TQM), famed for advancing Japanese firms to remarkable achievement in product quality, was also pursued in the service industry.

Features

Section 504(b) of the Copyright Act allows a copyright owner to obtain both the owner's actual damages as well as an infringer's profits attributable to the infringed work that weren't included in the actual damages award. What are the burdens of proof when a copyright infringement plaintiff seeks this recovery after a pre-trial summary judgment motion has been filed? How does an expert's report work into this?

Recently, the California legislature passed three laws that significantly alter the privacy landscape and impose a new set of responsibilities that arguably apply to any company doing business in the state.

Features

On Oct. 25, 2013, the Federal Circuit, by a vote of six-to-five, denied rehearing <i>en banc</i> in <i>Commil USA, LLC v. Cisco Sys., Inc.,</i> (<i>Commil II</i>). That decision left intact the panel's holding, in a case of first impression, that an alleged indirect infringer's "good-faith belief of invalidity may negate the requisite intent for induced infringement."