Patent Law

Hillcrest goes after Nintendo at ITC and D. Maryland

Posted on August 21, 2008
Reuters notes: U.S. firm Hillcrest Laboratories has accused Japan's Nintendo Co of infringing claims of four of its patents to make the top-selling Wii game console, filing a complaint with the ITC, and a lawsuit in D. Maryland.The Baltimore Sun noted: [Hillcrest's] technology is licensed by companies including Universal Electronics Inc...

Hospital death rates

Posted on August 21, 2008
On 20 August 2008, ABC Nightly News had a piece on a website to compare hospitals as to cardiac care deathrates.When IPBiz plugged in zip code 08609 (Hamilton, NJ area) into the website, IPBiz got an error message:An error with Message ID: 1269266 occurred processing the page you requested...

It's about the money...

Posted on August 21, 2008
GoErie notes: John Kanzius used to have trouble getting government officials interested in his experimental cancer-treatment device.Now they seem to be eager to help him.U.S. Rep. Phil English, of Erie, R-3rd Dist., visited Kanzius' lab Monday to promise $500,000 in federal funding for the external radio-frequency generator...

CD Cal decision in DSW blistered by CAFC; Shoe Pavilion loses

Posted on August 21, 2008
Defendant-appellee Shoe Pavilion, represented by Venable, did not fare well at the CAFC, as the judgment of CD Ca was vacated and remanded.Of claim construction: The district court erroneously imported the Track and Roller Limitation directly recited in claims 1-3 into the generally phrased ?vertically disposed, horizontally movably positionable stack divider? language of claims 4-6...

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NYT quote: ?Barack Obama makes me nervous?

Posted on August 21, 2008
Although the quote of one George Timko was not directed to Obama's patent policy, it easily could have been.The NYT quoted Timko: ?Barack Obama makes me nervous. Who is he? Where?d he come from? ?Obama's policies on invention, recycled from ivory tower professors unconnected to the real world, ought to make Mr...

Randi Black patent invalidated in ED Texas; nipple covers obvious

Posted on August 21, 2008
From MarketWatch: Judge John D. Love of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted summary judgment dismissing a lawsuit by Randi Black, owner of a patent that teaches a method to cover a nipple. Judge Love found the patent to be invalid because it was an obvious combination of teachings from prior patents...

"Velvet Revolver" settles plagiarism of "Voodoo Six"

Posted on August 20, 2008
Contactmusic notes: Rock supergroup VELVET REVOLVER have agreed to hand over a fifth of all the royalties from their 2004 album CONTRABAND after learning the riff to their PRETTY LITTLE THING hit was stolen.Voodoo Six star Tony Newton called on his publishers to fight for a deal after hearing the song for the first time and realising it was a copy of his Dirty Little Thing tune - but even he never expected the matter to be settled so quietly and quickly...

CAFC hands loss to Apotex, Impax on omeprazole

Posted on August 20, 2008
The CAFC noted: In this consolidated appeal, Apotex and Impax challenge the district court?s judgments of infringement against each of them. Because we find no error in the district court?s decision, we affirm. Of the science issue: Omeprazole is a potent inhibitor of gastric acid secretion, but it is susceptible to degradation in acid-reacting and neutral media...

Will "VP candidate Biden" walk the plank on plagiarism?

Posted on August 20, 2008
IPBiz notes the following text concerning the possible impact of Biden's plagiarism on his possible role as VP candidate:On the other hand, while it might be a minor political liability, I think the old "plagiarism" charges are of little substantive significance -- the idea of "plagiarism" in a context where nobody expects you to write your own words in the first place is nonsensical...

Kent State University secures patent win

Posted on August 20, 2008
A European patent court agrees that Kent State University and Kent Displays own the rights to a flexible liquid crystal display technology invented by professors John West and Deng-Ke Yang. [from ohio.com]The patent in question had been challenged in litigation in ED Texas between 1996 and 2001...

Mike Masnick again

Posted on August 19, 2008
Mike Masnick wrote:We've pointed out in the past why it doesn't make much sense to treat "intellectual property" as "regular property," since it ignores some very important differences between the two. James Bessen and Michael Meurer, who wrote the recent book Patent Failure have always taken a slightly different approach...

More on rejection of Dell's proposed cloud computing trademark

Posted on August 19, 2008
See for example USPTO rains on Dell?s app for ?cloud computing? trademark and previous IPBiz post: Notice of Allowance on trademark "cloud computing" revokedDescriptive or generic, take your pick. Dell gets an opportunity to respond. What can they say?

ORI does not make plagiarists walk the plank

Posted on August 18, 2008
The journal Science reports that consent forms related to the 21 "approved" stem cell lines may be defective by today's standards. Robert Streiffer is quoted: "We know how to do things better today." Lorraine Iacovitti is quoted: "I was shocked." [IPBiz inquires: as in Casablanca?] The article also notes: "It's not clear whether iPS cells will behave exactly like ES cells...

Fraudulent science [?]

Posted on August 17, 2008
PolitickerNJ has text from a press release:Earlier this year, John Coleman, the founder of The Weather Channel, stated that manmade global warming is "the greatest scam in history," adding, "I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a scam...

In the eye of the beholder...

Posted on August 17, 2008
An editorial titled Swiftboating Barack Obama contains the line:Nutty claims pulled off the Internet aren?t transformed into truth simply because the compiler can find someone to publish them in book form.How aboutFalse assertions that Gary Boone invented the integrated circuit aren't transformed into truth simply because the Stanford Law Review published them...

Employees and patents

Posted on August 17, 2008
Slashdot has an interesting thread on the [hypothetical] rights of an employee not to patent. The set-up:My manager woke up one morning and decided to patent some stuff I did recently. The problem is, I'm strongly opposed to software patents, believing that they are stifling innovation and dragging the technology industry down (see all the frivolous lawsuits reported here on Slashdot!)...

Another suit involving allegations of ex-employee IP theft

Posted on August 17, 2008
Jonathan Sidener of the San Diego Union-Tribune (not to be confused with stem cell cheerleader Terri Somers) notes that Cary Jardin filed a suit on 12 August 2008 against Stuart Frost, a former chief executive of his company XPrime, contending that Stuart Frost took Xprime's ideas and used them to found a new company, Datallegro, in 2003...

Routman's copied lines from wikipedia: enough to walk the plank?

Posted on August 16, 2008
An AP story gives the fragments from Wikipedia that led to the allegation of "plagiarism" against Ohio University senior Allison Routman by the University of Virginia:?when the Germans attacked the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa? ?German speaking minority outside of Germany? ?who had been released from a concentration camp?Whether or not this passes the Frank Zappa/weasel test for theft of creativity is less than obvious...

Ars Technica on McCain's patent policy

Posted on August 16, 2008
Ars Technica says of McCain's patent policies:McCain believes that intellectual property rights deserve strong protection, but he also acknowledges that excessively broad patents can stifle innovation. Those of us who have been keeping a close eye on the patent system generally view it as a complete mess and think that ongoing reform efforts aren't sufficient to address the problems...

What if...

Posted on August 16, 2008
IPBiz links to the Dick Morris piece, The Clinton Convention, which begins:Hillary and Bill have hijacked the Denver convention, making it into a carbon copy of what it would have looked like had she won until the last possible moment. By the time Obama gets up to speak and put his stamp on the convention, Hillary will have had one prime time night all to herself...

CAFC gives exposition of DJ issues, post MedImmune, in Prasco case

Posted on August 16, 2008
The fate of the TSM test in obviousness, post KSR, has been discussed. Note also the fate of "reasonable apprehension", post MedImmune, is also being discussed. In Prasco v. Medicis,the CAFC gives a thorough discussion, post MedImmune, of DJ jurisdiction...

Some Kanzius patent applications

Posted on August 16, 2008
from published application, 20070250139-->This application is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority to non-provisional application Ser. No. 10/969,477 filed on Oct. 20, 2004, which is entitled System and Method for RF-Induced Hyperthermia, which is incorporated herein by reference, and which claims priority to, and the benefits of, provisional application Ser...

The most popular PTO director in recent history?

Posted on August 16, 2008
In a post titled Todd Dickinson To Take AIPLA Helm, Patently-O states: Dickinson is widely considered the most popular PTO director in recent history.For clarification, IPBiz asks: popular with whom? One can view some of the posts on Dickinson on Greedy-IP...

Ex parte Whelen, interpreting KSR v. Teleflex

Posted on August 15, 2008
The patenthawk blog has a post about Ex Parte Whelen, in which the BPAI stated:The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that rigid and mandatory application of the ?teaching-suggestion-motivation,? or TSM, test is incompatible with its precedents. KSR Int?l Co...

On the impact of LG vs. Quanta

Posted on August 15, 2008
New England In-House has an article on LG v. Quanta titled: Supreme Court expands ?exhaustion? doctrine: Patent owners? right to collect downstream royalties restricted.The end of the article noted:Although Quanta would seem to rule that a license would exhaust the patent owner?s patent rights, the license agreement could create a contractual (as opposed to statutory) obligation on the licensee to pay a royalty on its customers? uses of a product...

Running on empty?

Posted on August 15, 2008
BBC reports that Jackson Browne has asserted that the use of his song Running on Empty in a campaign ad by the McCain folks was an infringement of copyright and will lead people to conclude he endorses McCain (the latter sounding in trademark law).The gist of the use related to ridicule of Barack Obama "for suggesting that the country conserve gas through proper tire inflation", and could equally apply to Obama's copied thoughts in the patent area about gold-plating patents.

Finding things you least expect

Posted on August 15, 2008
"Part of discovery is finding things that you least expect. When you come across something like that in the middle of the desert it sends a tingle down your spine." Paul Sereno, the University of Chicago, on finding in Niger in the Tenere desert, a human cemetery AND bones belonging to animals that don't live in the desert AP reported: The graveyard, uncovered by hot desert winds, is near what would have been a lake at the time people lived there...

Unconstitutional law to fix unconstitutional law?

Posted on August 14, 2008
The New York Times reported on 13 Aug 08:President Bush on Tuesday signed a bill meant to fix a flaw in a 1999 law that has cast doubt on thousands of patent decisions. Under the old law, legal experts said, scores of administrative patent judges were appointed by a government official without the constitutional power to do so...

Sanofi sues Apotex over Taxotere

Posted on August 14, 2008
On August 13, the WSJ reported that SanofiAventis sued Apotex over Taxotere on August 8.

Showering divers?

Posted on August 14, 2008
IPBiz will leave this statement, relating to "why" divers shower, for later:Divers shower in between each dive to keep their muscles warm after getting out of the pool. The temperature of the pool water and the air are usually different (the pool is usually around 80 degrees, with the air temperature between 68 and 72 degrees)...

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