Patent Law

USPTO and KIPO sign MOU
Yesterday the USPTO announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) regarding a more comprehensive cooperation on patent examination...

USPTO Tidbits
The USPTO has issued a number of news releases in the past week ? here is a brief summary of several notable ones.The International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has informed the USPTO that the search fee required by the European Patent Office (EPO) when the EPO acts as the International Searching Authority (ISA) has increased to $2,496...

USPTO Statistics: Fewer Allowances, More Appeals
More from this month’s “Advanced Patent Law Institute” at the USPTO:  John Love, the USPTO’s Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, and Hon. Michael Fleming, Chief Adminstrative Patent Judge of the Board of Patent Appeals and Intereferences, presented some interesting statistics: the allowance rate for U...

USPTO Issues Several Patent Prosecution Highway Notices
The USPTO released a trio of notices this week regarding a specific aspect of its 21st Century Strategic plan, namely a procedure to partner with other intellectual property office to share search results and reduce the duplication of efforts...

Examination Support Document (ESD) COuld Add $26,000 to Patent Costs
Even though we’ve covered the ?suspicious procedures? at the USPTO regarding the Final Continuations and Claims Limits Rule, more evidence seems to keep coming to light.  See Tafas v...

USPTO-APO Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program
Thanks to Bill Bennett of Pizzeys in Australia for pointing out that the USPTO has signed another Pilot Patent Prosecution Highway Program with the Australian Patent Office. According to Bill,Like the PPH Programs already in place between the USPTO and the JPO, UKIPO,CIPO & KIPO, this pilot PPH Program will allow an applicant with claims which have been indicated allowable in the US to fast-track the prosecution of corresponding claims in Australia...

Possible Salmonella Contamination
Prompts Recall by Plainview Milk Products Cooperative

Zantac Patent
GlaxoSmithKline and Cypress Pharmaceutical settle patent infringement dispute.

Soliris Patent
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. agrees to pay the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation a $10 million patent infringement settlement.

DRAM Patent
ProMOS Technologies and Mosel Vitelic pay MOSAID Technologies an undisclosed patent infringement settlement.

Murphy City, TX
$255,000 settlement in controversial pedophile news program case.

Newspaper Employees
Chinese Daily News must pay $5.19 million class action settlement for failing to pay overtime.