Patent Law

IEEE to get into the patent pool business?

Posted on December 08, 2008
Rick Merritt writes: The IEEE Standards Association has struck a two-year agreement with Via Licensing Corp. to create one or more patent pools around some of the group's communications standards. If all goes well, the two organizations hope to set up a handful of such patent pools to help drive IEEE specs into the market...

Somers writes of Klein's salary demands on California's CIRM

Posted on December 08, 2008
Terri Somers wrote of Robert Klein's reversal of position on taking a salary from CIRM:Klein, who is chief executive of a financing company that funds affordable apartment developments and market-rate projects, said market conditions dictate that he can no longer afford to donate his time to the state...

SIU plagiarism rule discussion thickens

Posted on December 08, 2008
Further to the proposed rules on plagiarism at Southern Illinois University (SIU), John Haller, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, wrote to the SIUDE on Dec. 8:If one reads the draft policy and procedures, it should be clear that item No. 10 speaks to retaliation and states the following - "Retaliation against an individual who makes allegations or complaints of a violation of this policy, or who participates in an investigation, is prohibited...

IP Litigation Clearinghouse launched

Posted on December 08, 2008
A press release from MarketWatch titled Stanford Law School Launches Intellectual Property Litigation Clearinghouse notes:The Law, Science & Technology Program at Stanford Law School today [8 Dec 08] launched the Stanford Intellectual Property Litigation Clearinghouse (IPLC), a first-of-its-kind online database that offers comprehensive information about intellectual property disputes within the United States...

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Tribune Co. files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Posted on December 08, 2008
MarketWatch: Tribune Co. said Monday, Dec. 8, that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure its nearly $13 billion debt load, a move that dramatically underscores the dire circumstances clouding the near-term future of the newspaper industry...

BPAI's Miyazaki: two or more plausible constructions, out under 112

Posted on December 08, 2008
Patently-O discusses the Nov. 2008 BPAI decision in Miyazaki . Important text in the decision is:This rule of reading claims narrowly in view of ambiguity runs counter to the USPTO?s broader standard for claim construction during prosecution. In particular, unlike in post-issuance claim construction, the USPTO gives pending claims ?their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification? and ?in light of the specification as it would be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art...

Patent pools don't encourage innovation

Posted on December 06, 2008
There's been some blog discussion of Do Patent Pools Encourage Innovation? Evidence from the 19th-Century Sewing Machine Industry by Lampe and Moser. The paper is mainly about sewing machines, but the Wright Brothers come up, right at the beginning of the paper:On the eve of the United States' entry into World War I, the American aeronautics industry was in disarray...

NJ Superior Court Judge Wilbur Mathesius denied re-appointment

Posted on December 06, 2008
Mercer County Superior Court Judge Wilbur {"Bill") Mathesius has been denied reappointment by Governor Jon Corzine, after "a close examination of his record."Judge Mathesius presided over the famous murder trial of Jonathan Nyce.The Trenton Times included the following text in a story about the matter: In December 2006, the court suspended Mathesius without pay for a month, which cost him nearly $12,000, after its advisory panel found that the judge had "showed poor judgment, impulsiveness and lack of self-control and a tendency to act without sufficient regard for the propriety and consequences of his actions...

"The most fundamental question in climate science"

Posted on December 06, 2008
Bob Park's Dec. 5 WN had text:It [Triana] was meant to answer the most fundamental question of climate science: what is the energy balance between solar radiation falling on Earth and reflected or reradiated energy? Global warming deniers all claim solar variation is the major factor in global climate change...

IPWatchdog summarizes Tafas oral argument

Posted on December 06, 2008
An mp3 of the oral arguments in Tafas is available. The gist of the report on the Tafas oral arguments on Dec. 5 from IPWatchdog-->It is hard to imagine that GlaxoSmithKline and Dr. Tafas could have drawn a better three judge panel then the did for this appeal of Judge Cacheris? ruling...

Favreau pic with Hillary Sikahema'd from Facebook

Posted on December 06, 2008
At various past points in time, President-Elect Obama was accused of removing certain "outmoded" statements from the internet(e.g., Obama Sikahemas earlier criticism of troop surge). An interesting Sikahema event now surrounds Jon Favreau, who was recently appointed director of speechwriting for the [Obama] White House...

Another pro se litigant smoked at the CAFC

Posted on December 06, 2008
In Hainline v. Vanity Fair, the CAFC went through the DuPont factors for likelihood of confusion:In testing for likelihood of confusion . . . the following, when of record, must be considered: (1) The similarity or dissimilarity of the marks in their entireties as to appearance, sound, connotation and commercial impression...

P&G wins procedural matter in coffee wars

Posted on December 06, 2008
The CAFC noted:This case therefore presents the issue of whether we have jurisdiction to hear this interlocutory appeal, and if so, whether the district court abused its discretion with respect to Kraft?s motion to stay and/or P&G?s motion for a preliminary injunction...

JMRI discusses Jacobsen v. Katzer

Posted on December 06, 2008
A discussion of litigation over US 6,530,329 (titled "Model train control system") in June 2006 earned IPBiz the following mention:Another article by a patent attorney discussed aspects of the case in June.The Lessig blog made out better for a post in 2008, and it didn't mention trains or JMRI.

Apple in the skies with diamonds?

Posted on December 05, 2008
Apple has filed patent applications on two heatsink technologies, both connected by the use of a diamond-based thermal material.

Ravicher as a recycled Lemley-ism?

Posted on December 05, 2008
Arguments in Tafas are being heard Dec. 5. Dow Jones wrote:The patent office said in court filings that the limits would stop opportunistic patent applicants from flooding and abusing the system.For example, some parties file patent continuations as a delaying tactic so they can later change their applications once they have seen what technologies their competitors are developing, the office said...

Plagiarism meanderings at SIU

Posted on December 05, 2008
The diffuse rationalizations at SIU continue. The SIUDE reported on SIU's new policy on plagiarism:The overarching goal of the new policy is to discourage a knee-jerk response to plagiarism accusations, he [Gerald Nelms] said.The word "plagiarism" itself has a negative stigma to many people, and the policy aimed to show that not all cases that are referred to as plagiarism are necessarily cheating, Nelms said...

Kathie Lee Gifford accused of theft of concept

Posted on December 05, 2008
Contactmusic writes: In a lawsuit filed at Los Angeles Superior Court, composer Harold Johns accuses The Today Show host and producers at U.S. network NBC of plagiarising his idea for the show's planned show-tune segment.IPBiz notes plagiarism per se is not a cause of action.

Bratz busted

Posted on December 05, 2008
The Los Angeles Times noted: U.S. District Judge Stephen G. Larson issued an order that handed the rights to the Bratz dolls and the Bratz name to Mattel which order arose from a July 2008 jury decision that the creator of the Bratz doll came up with the design while working for Mattel under an exclusivity contract...

A new, sad chapter in plagiarism at SIU unfolds

Posted on December 04, 2008
The SIU Daily Egyptian reports:A draft of the new SIU plagiarism policy, which officials said they would like to implement by February, could give administrators the power to take action against people who make "frivolous or malicious" charges of plagiarism against chancellors or members of the president's office...

"People unschooled in the way the Supreme Court works"

Posted on December 04, 2008
The link Will Supreme Court take case on Obama's citizenship? is mentioned because of the text attributed to Eugene Volokh:The remaining case with the highest profile is Donofrio vs. Wells. Because it was distributed by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to other justices for conference, it gained undue importance for people unschooled in how the court works, Volokh said.

Alito jokes about Biden plagiarism

Posted on December 04, 2008
Alexander Burns at Politico recounted a joke made by Supreme Court Justice Alito about Vice-President Elect Biden's past brushes with plagiarism:"To coin a phrase, in the spirit of the vice president-elect," Alito began, "you can't always get what you want, but you get what you need...

Was Bob Park's 28 Nov 08 WN an endorsement of "cold fusion"/LENR?

Posted on December 04, 2008
Of an IPBiz post, one reader wrote in suggesting that LBE, not being an insider on LENR, had misunderstood the meaning of Bob Park's November 28 post on WN.Thus, Bob Park was asked: Can you say whether anything in your 28 Nov. post was an endorsement of cold fusion, LENR, and/or anomalous heat?Bob Park responded: Hmm, interesting...

Unitronics v. Gharb

Posted on December 03, 2008
In the non-precedential Unitronics case, the CAFC vaporized pro se inventor Gharb on the law:Gharb?s belief, however, is premised on an incorrect understanding of the law. ?The words of the claims define the scope of the patented invention.? Computer Docking Station Corp...

Chemists not scientists, according to California's CIRM

Posted on December 03, 2008
IPBiz got a chuckle from the following pronouncement from CIRM (via californiastemcellreport):"CIRM places high value on interdisciplinary approaches. When scientists work in collaboration with engineers, physicians, chemists, mathematicians, and others to solve complex problems, they can achieve more than they could have working alone...

Another biometric patent, US 7,454,624

Posted on December 03, 2008
A press release announced:The benefits of the technology protected by this patent (patent number 7,454,624) provide another layer of defense against hackers and system attacks. Specifically, the technology provides the ability to distinguish an enrollment template from an authentication model...

Patent Resources Group announces scholarship

Posted on December 03, 2008
Patent Resources Group announced:The Future Leaders Scholarship, open to all full-time law students who are eligible to sit for the Patent Bar examination, will award full tuition to Patent Resources Group's Patent Bar Review course, including travel and hotel costs, a value of more than $5,000...

Flocks and things

Posted on December 02, 2008
Not all cockatoos are white, just as not all people knowledgeable in intellectual property are IP professors. Below is an uncommon, red-tailed cockatoo.Some parrots flock together, as many IP professors flock together:The red-tail, on hearing mention of Innovation and Its Discontents, became discontented:

NBC Nightly News does algae on 2 Dec 08

Posted on December 02, 2008
Kerry Sanders did a story on algae at the tail end of the 2 Dec 08 NBC Nightly News, which as of this posting did not make it onto the NBC website.Among those interviewed were Brian Wilson (Solix Biofuels), Al Darzins (DOE), and Bill Grieco. The story originated in Feldsmere, FL.

And, after the economic recovery, patent reform?

Posted on December 02, 2008
from the national journal:Hellman also expects to see a "significant breakthrough" on the immigration and education front, particularly regarding the movement of high-skilled workers. "Our goal will be to get that debate out of the illegal immigration debate," he said...

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