Patent Law

Patent reform in in the US--and business-method patents.
The Economist: America's Patent System: Methods and Madness. "The federal court charged with hearing patent appeals has hinted that it may use a case [Bilski, argued at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in DC last Thursday with 200 people present] to cut back the scope of patent protection for business methods...

The Patentability of Business Methods and the Upcoming Federal Circuit Hearing en banc in Ex parte Bilski
Erika Harmon Arner of Finnegan Henderson has a nice summary, including the precise issues involved, of what is involved in the upcoming Federal Circuit hearing en banc in Ex parte Bilski and the patentability of business methods...

Litigation Could Redefine "Business Methods" Software Patents
Interesting story from CNet.com: "About a decade ago, a federal appeals court issued a ruling that prompted thousands of new applications for patents on so-called "business methods," ranging from Amazon...

Patenting Business Methods for Internet-Based Commerce
World Research Group is hosting a seminar titled, "Patenting Business Methods for Internet-Based Commerce" on February 26-27, 2008 in New York City.  Some of the activities you will learn about during the conference include: Effectively manage and respond to troll activity Assess the likelihood of receiving an injunction in a post eBay world Develop a comprehensive portfolio and defensive patent strategy to mitigate the risk of third-party infringement Examine the current developments in patent law as it impacts Internet-based businesses Investigate and respond to patent assertion letters post Seagate Create organizational sensitivity to intellectual property risk and opportunities Structure your legal and business strategies in correspondence with evolving technology Evaluate the merits of licensing your business methods patents for Internet-based commerce Manage patents in collaborations and joint ventures Effectively enforce Internet-based patents in international territory Respond to the effect of KSR v...

Patent Factoids
Some factoids about patents:Typical cost to obtain a U.S. patent: $5,000 to $25,000.  Cost to invalidate a patent: Legal fees average $4.5 million in patent disputes where more than $25 million is at risk...

Will business method patents be put out of business
"Business method patents" are those that that describe and claim a new method for conducting a business-related operation. Until 1998, business methods were largely unpatentable. But in that year, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) declared business...

NCAA and Ticketmaster
alleging they have a monopoly on college sports events and charge non-refundable fees to enter a lottery for the rights to purchase tickets to the sporting events.

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.

Medical Tubing Errors Leading to Adverse Events Including Death
Medical Tubing Errors Leading to Adverse Events Including Death

CellCept
Roche Issues Changes to Warnings and Adverse Events