Supreme Court Mandates More Patent Claim Clarity
July 02, 2014
In <i>Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc.</i>, a unanimous Supreme Court held that the test for patent claim definiteness in 35 U.S.C. '112, '2 (2006) "require[s] that a patent's claims, viewed in light of the specification and prosecution history, inform those skilled in the art about the scope of the invention with reasonable certainty."
IP News
July 02, 2014
Patent Co-Owners Cannot Be Involuntarily Joined as Parties <br>IPR Procedural Right to Appeal Does Not Grant Art. III Standing<br>Federal Circuit: <i>Suprema v. ITC</i> to Be Reheard <i>En Banc</i> by the Federal Circuit
On the Move
June 02, 2014
Who's doing what; who's going where.
Litigating Trade Secret Claims
June 02, 2014
Employees escape with valuable information every day, resulting in substantial, sometimes devastating losses to employers. Here's what employers need to know.
<i>Gilead Sciences, Inc. v. Natco Pharma Ltd. </i>
June 02, 2014
Upon issuance, can a later-issued (but earlier-expiring) patent qualify as a double patenting reference against an already issued (but later-expiring) commonly owned patent of the same inventor? In Gilead Sciences, the Federal Circuit held that it could.
Intent to Use
June 02, 2014
Bona fide intent was given new meaning by the TTAB. <i>Lincoln National Corporation v. Anderson,</i> exemplifies an apparent trend of the TTAB requiring greater proof of an applicant's "intent" as a jurisdictional prerequisite for filing an application or face a finding that the application is void <i>ab initio.</i> This is the paradigm of the "ticking time bomb" trademark nightmare with a very long fuse.
The ITC Is Dead, Long Live the ITC
June 02, 2014
In the last decade, the ITC has been an increasingly popular forum for litigating IP rights, largely because it offers a quick and forceful remedy in the form of an exclusion order, which can exclude infringing products from the U.S. market. In recent months, several important decisions have caused some to question the continuing vitality of the ITC as forum.
IP News
June 02, 2014
Federal Circuit: Only Patent Owner May Appeal a PTAB Reexamination Decision <br>Federal Circuit: Clones Not Patentable Subject Matter<br>Federal Circuit: PTO's Decision Not to Initiate <i>Inter Partes</i> Review Is Not Appealable
Seeking Quick Relief for Trademark Claims on Social Media Sites
June 02, 2014
Policing and enforcing trademark rights in social media requires a brand owner to reexamine some of the basic premises about infringement. It is black letter law that trademark maintenance requires a trademark owner to maintain control over the quality of the goods and services associated with its mark. In the infringement context, this has generally been interpreted as an obligation to prevent any uses that are inconsistent with the brand's image. However, social media has altered this fundamental assumption.
