Explore the unique considerations for mergers and acquisitions in the AI sector, the return of IPOs, the implications of new Supreme Court decisions and other developments in this edition of Skadden’s quarterly Insights....more
6/27/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Banking Sector ,
Capital Markets ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Executive Compensation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Technology
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has called attention in the past year to its perception of the influence that branded pharmaceutical companies have over the price of beneficial drugs. Most recently, the agency has asserted...more
6/27/2024
/ Competition ,
Drug Pricing ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Generic Drugs ,
Life Sciences ,
Orange Book ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements
Two recent developments, one in the U.S. and one in the U.K., have shed further light on the intersection of patent law and artificial intelligence (AI), particularly with respect to whether AI-generated inventions can be...more
3/25/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Innovative Technology ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
UK ,
USPTO
A new surge in business innovation has arrived as companies take advantage of the unique efficiencies and benefits of artificial intelligence (AI). Recent news headlines about chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard highlight the...more
4/21/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bots ,
Business Operations ,
Copyright ,
Innovative Technology ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
Patent Act ,
Patents ,
Technology ,
USPTO
This edition of Skadden’s quarterly Insights looks at the rising number of de-SPACed companies seeking Chapter 11 protection, the growth of a market designed to assume legacy liabilities, an effort to establish...more
4/20/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Banking Sector ,
Capital Markets ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Governance ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Tax Incentives ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Holding Companies ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Innovative Technology ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Liability ,
Mergers ,
Patents ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Tax Credits
Steep Drop in Discretionary Denials — But Will It Last?
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) may be becoming more petitioner-friendly following a June 2022 memorandum that significantly narrows a precedent-setting...more
Takeaways -
Minerva Surgical v. Hologic limits the application of assignor estoppel, which bars inventor-assignors from challenging patents they obtained.
If a buyer-assignee later expands the scope of its claim, under...more
In October 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that could affect the viability of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) as well as countless PTAB patentability decisions — past, present and future....more
On April 20, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 7-2 decision in Thryv, Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies, LP, ruling Section 314(d) of the America Invents Act (AIA) precludes the appeal of a decision by the Patent Trial...more
4/21/2020
/ § 314(d) ,
§ 315(b) ,
§314(a) ,
§314(b) ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dissenting Opinions ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Judicial Review ,
Non-Appealable Decisions ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
Thryv Inc v Click-To-Call Technologies LP ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Vacated
The stars of intellectual property law have historically been patents, copyrights and trademarks. Trade secrets have long been legally recognized but only recently have begun to share equal billing. The 2016 passage of the...more
In a pair of decisions issued on April 24, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified the constitutionality of and the appropriate practice for inter partes review. The 7-2 majority opinion in Oil States Energy Services, LLC v....more
5/1/2018
/ America Invents Act ,
Article III ,
Chevron Deference ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
New Guidance ,
Oil States Energy Services v Greene's Energy Group ,
Patents ,
Public Rights Doctrine ,
SAS Institute Inc. v Iancu ,
SCOTUS ,
Seventh Amendment ,
USPTO
U.S. courts have recognized trade secret protection for more than 200 years, and companies have long relied on trade secrets to guard iconic intellectual property, such as the ingredients for Coca-Cola and the Big Mac’s...more
In an 8-0 decision issued on May 22, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court, in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, restricted the available venues for patent litigation claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1400. Under Section...more
5/25/2017
/ Forum Shopping ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Principal Place of Business ,
SCOTUS ,
State of Incorporation ,
State of Residency ,
TC Heartland LLC v Kraft Foods ,
Technology Sector ,
Venue
Nearly three years have passed since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on patent eligibility in Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'l. The decision, which ushered in an unprecedented wave of cases invalidating...more
4/19/2017
/ Claim Construction ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Computer-Related Inventions ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Patent Assertion Entities ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 101
In a 7-1 decision issued on March 21, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court held in SCA Hygiene Products Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Products, LLC that laches cannot be invoked as a defense against a claim for damages in a patent...more
3/22/2017
/ Appeals ,
Damages ,
Equitable Estoppel ,
Ex Partes Reexamination ,
Laches ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Petrella v. MGM ,
Prior Art ,
Rebuttable Presumptions ,
Reversal ,
SCA Hygiene Products Aktiebolag v First Quality Baby Products ,
SCOTUS ,
Statute of Limitations
In a 7-0 decision issued on February 22, 2017, in Life Technologies Corp. v. Promega Corp., the U.S. Supreme Court held that exporting a single component of a multicomponent invention for combination abroad does not give rise...more
2/26/2017
/ Appeals ,
Component Parts Doctrine ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Exports ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Life Technologies Corp v Promega Corp ,
Manufacturer Liability ,
Motion to Set Aside the Verdict ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Supply Contracts
In a unanimous decision issued on June 13, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc., relaxed the standard for awards of enhanced damages under 35 U.S.C. § 284. In so ruling, the Court...more
6/14/2016
/ 35 U.S.C. § 284 ,
Abuse of Discretion ,
Enhanced Damages ,
Halo v Pulse ,
Highmark ,
Judicial Discretion ,
Octane Fitness v. ICON ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
Standard of Proof ,
Standard of Review ,
Stryker v Zimmer ,
Willful Infringement
On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA, or Act) into law. The DTSA, among other things, amends the Economic Espionage Act to create, for the first time, a federal private civil...more
5/13/2016
/ Asset Seizure ,
Damages ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Ex Parte ,
Injunctions ,
Misappropriation ,
Private Right of Action ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Trade Secrets ,
UTSA ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
When the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) began hearing post-issuance patent challenge proceedings under the America Invents Act in September 2012, the PTAB became one of the...more
When are Internet-based business methods eligible for patent protection under 35 U.S.C. § 101? In 2014, the Supreme Court laid the groundwork for the Federal Circuit to grapple with this question, when it decided Alice Corp....more
In a 7-2 decision issued on January 20, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc., held that the Federal Circuit must review factual findings underlying claim construction for clear...more
In the 1980s and 1990s, viewers of the television series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” regularly saw Patrick Stewart procure hot tea from a “replicator,” which generated his tea — cup and all — instantly on demand. Even...more
In a unanimous decision issued on June 19, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court found that patent claims for managing risk in a financial transaction were drawn to an abstract idea that was patent-ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101....more
6/20/2014
/ Alice Corporation ,
America Invents Act ,
CLS Bank ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Mayo v. Prometheus ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Risk Mitigation ,
SCOTUS ,
USPTO
In a decision issued on June 2, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court lowered the bar for parties arguing patent indefiniteness under 35 U.S.C. § 112. Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc., No. 13-369 (U.S. June 2, 2014). The...more
In a unanimous decision issued on June 2, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly tightened the requirements for proving inducement of infringement of method patent claims under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b). Limelight Networks, Inc....more