IP News
Obama Administration Vetoes ITC Ban <br>Medical Devices Case Yields Treble Damages in Michigan
Limited Exclusion Orders at the ITC
The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has the authority to stop unfair trade practices, including the importation of products found to infringe a valid U.S. patent. But does that authority automatically extend to downstream products incorporating a relatively insignificant infringing component ' such as an automobile that happens to include an infringing light-emitting diode? And is the ITC required to balance the parties' interests and consider factors such as the value of an infringing component compared to the overall value of the imported downstream product?
Joint Defense Agreement Considerations in NPE Patent Litigation
Accused infringers in patent litigation, especially against non-practicing entities (NPEs), often form joint defense groups to defend against common claims brought in one or more actions. A written agreement of the joint defense group can make plain the respective rights and obligations of each group member and evidence to the court a requisite alignment of common interest underpinning the group. The following is a selection of relevant considerations to support productive group interaction through appropriate provision in the joint defense agreement.
IP News
Washington Judge Awards Syntrix $115 Million
Supreme Court Weighs in on Reverse Payment Settlement Agreements
On June 17, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court held in <i>Federal Trade Commission v. Actavis, Inc.</i> that so-called "reverse payment" settlement agreements should be analyzed under a rule-of-reason analysis under which the court weighs the pro- and anti-competitive effects of such agreements on a case-by-case basis.
Hidden Issues in Balance Sheets
Attorneys for creditors and debtors, and bankruptcy judges, are making recommendations or decisions based on only cursory consideration of potentially misleading balance sheets.
Joinder Issues in BitTorrent Copyright Litigation
Over the past several years, there has been a national flurry of civil actions brought primarily by pornographic filmmakers alleging copyright infringement by individual file-sharers using the BitTorrent computer protocol.Typically, the copyright holders allege that users illegally downloaded, reproduced and distributed at least a portion of the film at issue using BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer protocol that allows users to transfer large files on the Internet.
<i>Biosig Instruments, Inc. v. Nautilus, Inc.</i>
In <i>Biosig Instruments, Inc. v. Nautilus, Inc.</i>, the Federal Circuit held that the functional claim language of "spaced relationship" was definite in view of the inherent parameters of the claimed apparatus, notwithstanding the lack of any specific quantification of exactly how wide the spacing should be.
