Patent Correction: Navigating the Confusing Terrain of Broadening Reissue
There are times when a patent owner may discover that an issued patent does not claim everything that the patent should have covered. When such defects are discovered, one strategy a patent owner may wish to consider is filing a request with the USPTO for a broadened reissue of a U.S. patent to enlarge the scope of the claims of the original patent.
Practice Tip: Twombly and Iqbal Are Everywhere
The impact of <i>Twombly</i> and <i>Iqbal</i> on the pleading standard in federal motions to dismiss has been well documented during the last several years. This article examines the impact that these important cases have had when fraudulent joinder becomes an issue.
Establishing Diversity in Medical Device Litigation
A medical device manufacturer served with a product liability lawsuit in state court often prefers to be in federal court, but diversity jurisdiction requirements cannot be met because a local hospital that purchased the device and supplied it for use on the plaintiff-patient is a non-diverse co-defendant.
Korean War Memorial Copyright Infringed By U.S. Postal Service
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has held the U.S. Postal Service liable for copyright infringement for its use on a postage stamp of an image of a number of sculptures created by Frank Gaylord for the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
A Madness to the Method? The Impact of Bilski on Method Patents
For more than a year, the software/information technology, financial, and even biotech industries, along with the patent bar, waited for the Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue of business methods and patent-eligible subject matter under ' 101 of the Patent Act. In its recent decision in <i>Bilski v. Kappos</i>, the Supreme Court provided an answer for the business method claimed by Bilski, but not a lot of detailed guidance for future cases.
Building a Successful Women's Initiative
Law firms across the country continue to struggle with the recruitment, retention and advancement of women. The findings of multiple national surveys consistently show that women make up almost half of all law school graduating classes, yet they account for less than 20% of the partners in most large law firms.
Policing Workplace e-Mail Use
On-the-job Internet surfing has become a problem that employers can no longer ignore. A recent Office of Inspector General investigation, for example, revealed that senior-level SEC staff, including an attorney, used their workplace computers to view online pornography for up to eight hours per day during the period of time that led this country's biggest economic meltdown since the Great Depression.
Leadership Training Is an Oxymoron
Leadership development is about learning, not training. Your firm's future leaders must be given the opportunities, tools, and motivation to develop their leadership.
Training for Lawyer Management
What <i>specifically</i> managing partners and members of management committees should do to coalesce their partners, associates and staff into a well-managed and informed organization, with all of the professional and administrative personnel working together to achieve the firm's immediate and long-term objectives.
Survey of Equipment Finance Activity
The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association recently released its 2010 Survey of Equipment Finance Activity, which shows that new business volume among a sample of the ELFA member companies declined 30.3% in 2009, in contrast with a 2.2% decline in 2008.
