Patent Law

Abbott loses big time to J&J over Humira

Posted on July 01, 2009
After five hours of deliberations on June 29, an ED Texas jury found Abbott?s actions in selling Humira, in view of J&J's patent position, to be willful and determined J&J is owed $1.17 billion in lost profits and $504 million in royalties. Abbott plans to appeal the verdict, which is the largest in US history...

In passing

Posted on July 01, 2009
IPBiz had its 5 year anniversary on June 29, putting up 5,041 posts in that time period.Blogging from Toronto at SSI-17 for post 5042.

Hot time at Bridgewater, NJ High School?

Posted on June 27, 2009
266 degrees Farenheit?

SSI-17

Posted on June 27, 2009
INTERCALATION COMPOUNDS, BATTERIES, AND PATENTS:WHAT HAPPENS AFTER GRAD SCHOOLI. Graphite/Chromium trioxideA. BackgroundOur first publication showed that grahite/chromium trioxide prepared by the Croft method was NOT an intercalation compound of graphite but rather a physical mixture of graphite and Cr3O8...

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UAlabama system tightens its IP policy

Posted on June 26, 2009
In a sign of the times, the University of Alabama system has altered its IP policy to make it more "pro-university." The Birmingham Biz Journal reports:The system amended its patent policy on June 19 to explicitly claim ownership of all inventions produced using its resources on its three campuses...

Caltech, Sony settle patent case on digital cameras

Posted on June 26, 2009
Bloomberg reports: CalTech sued six digital-camera companies, including Canon Inc. and Nikon Corp., seeking royalties on 11 patents related to digital-camera technology. Some of the inventions relate to pixel sensors that improve electronically transmitted images and came from research CalTech did for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, according to information on the patents...

Glaxo loses to Teva on Seretide in Ireland

Posted on June 26, 2009
Reuters notes: The ruling from the Commercial Court in Dublin is a victory for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, whose Ivax unit had challenged the combination patent for Seretide (Advair in the US). The patent relates to the combination of the active ingredients salmeterol and fluticasone propionate, and expires in 2013...

Samsung prevails against Sharp in ITC case

Posted on June 26, 2009
The Los Angeles Times noted:In a notice posted on its Web site today, the ITC said unlicensed Sharp LCD devices, including display panels and modules, and LCD televisions made overseas that use Samsung's patented invention should be banned from the U...

Good and bad patents: ask Bob Dylan

Posted on June 26, 2009
The 271Blog covered a session on NPEs at the IAM IP Business Congress and noted:It was a very engaging session, which left some serious questions needing answers. Specifically, the public perception of NPE's has currently been couched in terms of "bad" patents being asserted to extract "illegitimate" licensing fees...

Obviousness sinks pro se appellant at CAFC

Posted on June 25, 2009
In the Mettke case, KSR comes up to favor the appellant, who loses anyway:Mr. Mettke is correct that the selective hindsight combination of references that show various elements of the claim generally does not suffice to establish obviousness. See KSR Int?l Co...

The concept of "write-through"

Posted on June 25, 2009
A story in the LA Times discusses plagiarism charges leveled against Chris Anderson and mentions the concept of "write-through" :On Tuesday [June 23] afternoon, Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired magazine and author of the 2006 bestseller "The Long Tail," received an e-mail warning that his new book, "Free: The Future of a Radical Price," was to be challenged...

Post-grant oppositions: another pothole in the road for patent reform?

Posted on June 23, 2009
On June 22, the 271Blog posted on the IAM-sponsored meeting in Chicago-->Today, IAM kicked off the IP Business Congress at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago. This morning?s sessions were quite packed, with an estimated 370+ people from various sectors of technology gathering to talk about IP valuation, prosecution and enforcementOf US matters-->Speaker: Todd Dickinson, Executive Director AIPLA...

Kappos and IBM in May 2009

Posted on June 22, 2009
On May 8, 2009 Foley hosted a webinar in its Patent Nation Web Conference series titled, "IP Outlook in the Reform Era." The participants included Foley & Lardner attorneys Jonathan Spivey, Jon Dudas, Courtenay Brinckerhoff, and Sharon Barner, along with IBM's David Kappos, now indicated to be the nominee of Barack Obama for undersecretary at Commerce and Director of the USPTO...

Patents: the Polynesians, Woody Brown, and Hobie Alter

Posted on June 21, 2009
The wikipedia entry for Woody Brown contains the following:After the war [World War II], Brown served as a US government surveyor on Christmas Island. There he was fascinated by the speed of the Polynesian natives' twin-hulled outrigger canoes. Back in Hawaii he adapted the idea, using lightweight hulls and adding huge sails, and in 1947 built the Manu Kai ("Sea Bird"), probably the fastest sailing boat in the world at the time and now seen as the first modern, ocean-going catamaran...

Canada's CBC: "Plagiarism did occur, and it wasn?t detected"

Posted on June 21, 2009
IPBiz covered plagiarism issues in a flap over a report on copyright by the Conference Board of Canada in an earlier post.[ see The Great Canadian Cut-and-Paste Caper]. What is refreshing to see is, that in the aftermath, the people in Canada tackled the issue head-on, rather than inventing some sophomoric concept like "inadvertent plagiarism" to cover their tracks...

Why is news coverage of patent reform so bad?

Posted on June 21, 2009
Ever wonder why news coverage of patent reform is so bad?Back in April 2009, Joff Wild at IAM wrote, in the context of press coverage of IP:So having said that, it is also important to stress that journalists can only learn if they are taught. If a story breaks at, say, 1...

Empathy: do lawyers have it?

Posted on June 20, 2009
The word "empathy" appears several times in previous IPBiz posts. However, IPBiz got a chuckle from a post on InsideCounsel titled Maximizing Conference Experience: You Got the Interview! Now What? which included:Please resist the urge to say ?hire me,? or any variation thereof, as a solution to the target?s challenges...

Kappos, Lemley, Merritt, and the 271Blog

Posted on June 20, 2009
Back in April 2008, IPBiz noted the problematic nature of Professor Lemley receiving funds from the IT industry for research for his paper in 85 Tex. L. Rev. 1991 (2007). The April 2 IPBiz post is titled Industry contracting with academics to advance their message? IPBiz notes that the fact of Lemley's IT support was observed in comments to a blog post on the 271Blog which appeared in August 2008: Patent Reform Crawling Back In 2008? Lemley Proposal For Damages May Provide AnswersThe content of the actual POST on the 271Blog was favorable to Professor Lemley: A recent paper by professor Mark Lemley suggests that easing restrictions on "lost profits" damages may provide a better means for market competitors to recoup damages, while reducing tendencies of courts to provide "kickers" on reasonable royalties...

It's Kappos

Posted on June 19, 2009
White House press release on June 18:WASHINGTON, DC ? Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals for key administration posts: David J. Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office and Warren F...

RIAA

Posted on June 19, 2009
See AP: Jury rules against Minn. woman in download case

"This blatant rip-off is unacceptable, even for a blogger."

Posted on June 19, 2009
Within the text of a post by Richard Connelly titled: Plagiarism? Or Great Minds Thinking Alike? A Lunatic Rant Inspires Controversy, one has the words:This blatant rip-off is unacceptable, even for a blogger.Connelly, on inspecting the facts, concludes: But no plagiarism was involved...

Burning water, before Kanzius

Posted on June 19, 2009
John Kanzius, in his work on a method of cancer treatment, found that he could burn salt water.[See What Wikipedia didn't tell you about Kanzius?: Of the "burning water" discovery of John Kanzius, Wikipedia writes: "The details of the process are still unreleased while Kanzius applies for a patent...

Mendte goes after Philly Inquirer

Posted on June 18, 2009
With his house arrest ending on Monday, June 1, former Philly channel 3 (KYW) news anchor Larry Mendte filed a lawsuit on June 3 against three columnists for The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News newspapers, as well as the papers' parent company, Philadelphia Media Holdings, alleging defamation and false light...

Invalidity via 112 P1 overturned because of improper claim construction

Posted on June 18, 2009
In Cartner v. Alamo, a finding that claims 5 and 12 of the ?284 patent are invalid for failure to meet the written description requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 112 was reversed on the basis ofimproper claim construction by the district court.Of the use of the prosecution history in claim construction:Of particular importance to the proper claim construction in this case is the prosecution history of the ?284 patent...

The McZeal case: the CAFC can't get no respect

Posted on June 18, 2009
Within the MCZEAL v. SPRINT case, the CAFC discusses a district court's treatment of an earlier CAFC ruling:The district court discussed our decision to vacate and remand this case, stating at oral argument on December 4, 2007: ?I?m actually comfortable simply holding the same way I held last time?; ??Their writ,? to quote a 1920s lawyer, does not run to the rational faculties?; and ?this is absurd...

Supreme Court: 5-4 vote in Osborne DNA case

Posted on June 18, 2009
Facts surrounding the Osborne case on the right to DNA testing revealed an odd combination of states that do NOT allow access:"To suddenly constitutionalize this area would short-circuit what looks to be a prompt and considered legislative response," Roberts said...

Business method patents thriving post-Bilski?

Posted on June 18, 2009
Aaron R. Feigelson gives US 7,546,945 (System and method for managing transactions, notice of allowance mailed 11 Feb. 09) as the purest example of a Bilski miss. Keep in mind, Aaron is talking about the NON-USE of Bilski against business method patents: I've commented before that it is not too difficult to find cases of Bilski failures by examiners, and frankly, discussing such patents is losing its novelty...

Star Scientific smoked by Reynolds: patents invalid, not infringed

Posted on June 18, 2009
In the latest development in the Star Scientific v. Reynolds saga, a Baltimore jury found the claims of the Star Scientific patents invalid, and, separately, not infringed by Reynolds.The Wall Street Journal wrote: A federal jury ruled Tuesday [16 June 2009] for R...

Stanford Ph.D. student sues Stanford, Stanford prof over patents and copying thesis

Posted on June 17, 2009
As noted by IPBiz earlier in June, the CAFC in Larson v. Correct Craft talked a great deal about Chou v. University of Chicago, 254 F.3d 1347, 1358 (Fed. Cir. 2001) and noted that neither the Chou nor Larson case decided whether a purely reputational interest is sufficient to confer standing for a § 256 claim...

ICAP buys transactions division of Ocean Tomo

Posted on June 16, 2009
See Reuters:ICAP, the world's biggest interdealer broker, on 16 June 09 announced that it has bought the transactions division of patent brokerage Ocean Tomo for $10 million in cash and shares.A garage sale of deck chairs on the Titanic?See alsohttp://ipbiz...

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