Intellectual Property Law

Federal Circuit's New Decision - In re Tech Decision

Posted on December 31, 2008
On December 29, 2008, the United States Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued the extraordinary remedy of a writ of mandamus in In re TS Tech USA Corp. et al. (?TS Tech USA?) (Misc. Dkt. No. 888) to reverse the denial of a motion to transfer a patent infringement action from the Eastern District of Texas to the Southern District...

January ABA IP Roundtable

Posted on December 23, 2008
Not Just for Hackers Anymore? Use of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to Respond to Theft of Information. January 21st - San Francisco location: Farella Braun + Martel January 22nd - Silicon Valley location: Garden Court Hotel, Palo Alto Information and registration at www...

Intellectual Property Litigation Database Launched by Stanford University

Posted on December 11, 2008
With much fanfare, the Stanford Law School Intellectual Property Litigation Clearinghouse (?IPLC?) was launched on December 1. The IPLC is a searchable online database that provides statistical information on patent lawsuit filings and outcomes since 2000...

Trade Secrets: A Practical & Strategic Overview

Posted on December 09, 2008
Silicon Valley Breakfast Program Trade Secrets:A Practical & Strategic Overview Trade secret claims are on the rise. During periods of economic downturn, employee departures and layoffs increase thereby creating greater opportunity for misuse of confidential trade secret information...

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In re Bilski: Has the Federal Circuit Overly Restricted What is Patentable Subject Matter?

Posted on November 07, 2008
After many eagerly anticipated months, the Federal Circuit fulfilled Judge Michel?s promise and issued its en banc opinion in In re Bilski just as the World Series concluded. In this 132-page opinion, the Court tackled the fundamental question of what types of processes constitute patentable subject matter under 35 U...

In re Volkswagen AG, 5th Cir, No. 07-40058 (October 10, 2008)

Posted on October 15, 2008
On Friday October 10, in a split 10-7 en banc decision, the 5th Circuit issued a writ of mandamus ordering Eastern District Judge John Ward to transfer a product liability case against Volkswagen to Dallas, where the car crash in the underlying case took place...

Claims - Data Privacy, Infringement and Errors & Omissions Coverage

Posted on September 19, 2008
October IP Section Luncheon Insurance Coverage for IP and TechnologyClaims - Data Privacy, Infringement and Errors & Omissions Coverage October 10, 2008, 11:45 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. Denver ChopHouse, Large Banquet Room Presented by: Mary E. McCutcheonJames MorandoDennis M...

Key Cases Pending Regarding Trademark Law and Internet Advertising

Posted on May 29, 2008
Internet advertising through programs such as Google's ?AdWords? and ?AdSense? has given rise to new issues relating to the application of traditional trademark law. AdWords -- better known as ?keyword? advertising -- allows advertisers to purchase or bid on certain ?keywords...

Medimmune, the Next Chapter: Federal Circuit Determines Generics Have Standing to Seek Declaratory Judgment Despite Covenant Not to Sue

Posted on April 07, 2008
In a decision that balances the provisions of the Hatch-Waxman Act with the ?case or controversy? mandate of the U.S. Constitution, the Federal Circuit recently opened the door a little wider for declaratory judgment actions brought by potential infringers ? at least as in matters relating to pharmaceutical products...

COURT ALLOWS STANFORD TO BELATEDLY AMEND INFRINGEMENT CONTENTIONS

Posted on March 26, 2008
In a recent decision addressing the Patent Local Rules of the Northern District of California, Judge Patel granted Stanford University leave to amend its infringement contentions to reach a third product of defendant Roche Molecular Systems (called "TaqMan")...

The Federal Circuit to Reconsider Patentability Standard

Posted on March 04, 2008
Ten years ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ushered in an era of expanded patentability when it issued its decision in State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc., 149 F.3d 1368 (Fed. Cir. 1998). The State Street panel held that patent laws do not strictly bar the patentability of ?business methods? and...

eBay and MercExchange Settle Long-Standing Patent Dispute

Posted on February 29, 2008
eBay and MercExchange have agreed to settle what has become one of the most important patent infringement cases in recent memory. According to a press release issued by eBay yesterday, "[a]s part of the settlement, eBay will purchase all three patents involved in the lawsuit, as well as some additional related technology and inventions and a license to another search-related...

9th Circuit Modifies Local Patent Rules

Posted on February 21, 2008
The local patent rules for the Northern District of California have always been viewed both by those in our district as well as other patent lawyers and judges as the leading edge for thoughtful and efficient management of patent litigation. These modifications are the result of several years of experience with the local rules and responding to perceived need to...

A 9-0 Decision By The Supreme Court Knocks Down ?Rigid? TSM Test for Obviousness

Posted on May 03, 2007
As we reported to you after oral argument in KSR Int?l Co. v. Teleflex Inc. et al., last November, the Supreme Court seemed skeptical that the Federal Circuit?s use of the ?teaching, suggestion, or motivation? (?TSM?) test for obviousness was appropriate, calling it at various times ?gobbledygook? and ?worse than meaningless...

Supreme Court Limits Microsoft's Exposure

Posted on May 01, 2007
In a 7-1 decision (with Chief Justice Roberts not participating) in a case the IP Blawg has been following, the Supreme Court today held that Microsoft cannot be liable for patent infringement for Windows software that is sent overseas on a master disk, copied outside of the U...

Impact Of eBay Continues To Be Felt As Federal Circuit Vacates Grant Of Permanent Injunction

Posted on April 16, 2007
In only the most recent example of the wide-reaching impact of the Supreme Court?s 2006 decision in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, LLC, the Federal Circuit last week applied eBay to vacate and remand a grant of permanent injunction. Although it affirmed the district court's findings of infringement and willfulness, in Acumed LLC v...

Music Copyrights Being Enforced On Campus

Posted on March 15, 2007
Colleges are turning into an IP battleground. Many of them now provide their students with computer terminals and network and Internet access. When the students then use them to share files with copyrighted songs or video games, the college authorities find themselves in the unlikely and uncomfortable position of enforcing the intellectual property rights of outside corporations against their own...

Microsoft v. AT&T Argued in the High Court

Posted on March 02, 2007
We've been following the patent litigation in Microsoft Corp. v. AT T Corp., now in the U.S. Supreme Court. The relevant statute, 35 U.S.C. § 271(f), forbids ?supplying? a ?component? of a patented invention with intent that it be ?combined? with other components overseas in a way that would be illegal if done domestically...

DISTRICT COURT PATENT PILOT PROGRAM

Posted on February 14, 2007
We reported in this space last September on a bill establishing a pilot program aimed at better treatment of patent cases in district courts. That bill, H.R. 34, was introduced by Reps. Darrell Issa (R.Cal.) and Adam Schiff (D.Cal.). It was the same bill that passed the House last year as H...

Federal Courts Can't Use Supplemental Jurisdiction To Hear Claims Under Foreign Patents

Posted on February 06, 2007
Dr. Jan Voda held American and foreign patents on his angioplasty catheter technology. He sued Cordis (a subsidiary of Johnson Johnson) in the Western District of Oklahoma for infringing his U.S. patent, and then tried to use the supplemental jurisdiction statute (28 U...

California Business Litigation Update Now Available

Posted on January 19, 2007
The Continuing Education of the Bar recently released its December 2006 update to its fundamental business litigation guide, California Business Litigation, and Farella Braun + Martel's intellectual property partner Nan E. Joesten authored the 2006 update of the treatise's chapter on patents...

MedImmune Prevails At Supreme Court

Posted on January 10, 2007
Happy New Year from the IP Blawg. The U.S. Supreme Court got 2007 off to a roaring start with its eagerly anticipated decision in the case of MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc. In an 8-1 ruling interpreting the ?case or controversy? clause of Article III of the Constitution, the Court held that a patent licensee need not cease paying the...

Searching for Patents on Google

Posted on December 20, 2006
Patent searching has come to Google with Google?s introduction of the beta version of Google Patent Search. The user enters a keyword (or an inventor?s name or patent number) in the familiar Google search box and can refine the search as needed. It?s relatively quick, For example, entering goggles retrieved 865 patents; limiting it to ski goggles reduced the number...

Federal Circuit Affirms that Northern Districts Patent Local Rules Have Strong Bite

Posted on December 13, 2006
In two recent decisions, the Federal Circuit has affirmed that patent holders must lay all their cards on the table in their infringement contentions served pursuant to the Northern District's Patent Local Rules, and that if they do not do so or otherwise fail to comply with the requirements of the Patent Local Rules, their infringement claims may be summarily...

EUROPEAN PATENT COURT DELAYED AGAIN

Posted on December 06, 2006
The long-proposed European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA) and associated European Patent Court have been having a bumpy road toward actual adoption as a single unified way and place to litigate European patents, which must now be enforced separately in each country...

Teleflex v. KSR: The TSM Obviousness Test Argued At The Supreme Court ? Is It Really ?Gobbledygook??

Posted on November 30, 2006
One of the highly-anticipated oral arguments of the patent bar season took place this week when the Supreme Court considered the test for obviousness in Teleflex Inc. v. KSR International. Although the U.S. District Court in Detroit granted summary judgment of invalidity, see Teleflex Inc v...

Comments on the Northern District's Local Patent Rules?

Posted on November 28, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving to our readers, and here's a post-holiday treat for aficionados of patent litigation procedures. Yesterday, the Patent Local Rules Advisory Subcommittee to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California put out a call for public comment concerning the Patent Local Rules and any possible amendments to those rules...

More On Metadata

Posted on November 15, 2006
The IP Blawg reported last June on an ethics case out of New York where lawyers were held to have a reasonable duty of care to prevent the transmission of metadata ? hidden electronic data that is generated in the course of creating and editing a document ? that might disclose a client confidence...

Corporations Look To Outside Counsel To Handle IP Problems

Posted on October 17, 2006
According to a recent study of senior in-house counsel in 311 American corporations and another 111 around the world, intellectual property issues are among their top legal worries. IP and patent issues were among the main five concerns of 24% of the counsel responding to the survey, almost double the 13% reported last year...

Google Print Library Project Continues

Posted on October 13, 2006
We?ve posted from time to time on the dispute between various publishers, authors and Google over Google?s ambitious Print Library project. After Google initially suspended the scanning of materials to give publishers an opportunity to opt-out, the project resumed last November, and Google just announced that the University of Wisconsin-Madison was joining the program...

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