In June 2017, a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that under 35 USC § 145, a court can award attorneys’ fees to the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), regardless of whether the applicant,...more
In reviewing a decision from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) deciding three interferences involving competing claims directed to testing methods for fetal aneuploidies, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit...more
The Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari to decide whether only Art. III federal courts, not executive branch tribunals such as the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), can decide whether a patent is...more
Echoing Judge Newman’s dissent in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s decision in SAS Institute, Inc. v. ComplementSoft, LLC, Case Nos. 15-1346; -1347 (Fed. Cir., Nov. 7, 2016) (per curiam) (Newman, J,...more
In a unanimous decision, the United States Supreme Court has clarified certain portions of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (BPCIA), concluding (1) that biosimilar makers do not have to wait for...more
In a 6-2 decision authored by Justice Thomas, the US Supreme Court has now provided guidance as to whether aesthetic designs, such as stripes, chevrons, zigzags and color blocks of a cheerleading uniform are eligible for...more
3/27/2017
/ Cheerleaders ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyrightable Subject Matter ,
Fashion Design ,
Graphic Designs ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 101 ,
Separability ,
Sports Apparel ,
Star Athletica v Varsity Brands ,
The Copyright Act ,
Uniforms
On February 22, 2017, in reversing the decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, an essentially unanimous US Supreme Court ruled that the “supply of a single component of a multi-component invention for...more
In a September 2015 panel decision, Achates Reference Publishing v. Apple, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that under 35 USC 314(b), decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) finding that an...more
The Supreme Court of the United States has granted certiorari in a case involving the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (BPCIA) in the context of a biosimilars dispute. Sandoz, Inc. v. Amgen Inc. and...more
The Supreme Court of the United States has granted a petition for certiorari to consider whether 28 USC § 1400(b) is the sole and exclusive provision governing venue in patent infringement actions in light of amendments made...more
A unanimous US Supreme Court held that for purposes of determining damages for design patent infringement under 35 U.S.C. §289, the relevant “article of manufacture” may include either the end product sold to the consumer or...more
12/8/2016
/ Apple ,
Apple v Samsung ,
Cell Phones ,
Design Patent ,
iPhone ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Samsung ,
SCOTUS ,
Smartphones
On September 29, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States granted a petition for certiorari to consider the constitutionality of a provision of the US trademark laws directed to the registrability of disparaging...more
11/10/2016
/ Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Lanham Act ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Popular ,
The Slants ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
Unconstitutional Condition
Addressing the pleading standard under which a joint patent infringement claim must be reviewed, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a complaint of patent infringement, finding that the...more
In its October 7 en banc decision in Apple v. Samsung, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, without benefit of en banc briefing, issued an unusual opinion overturning a panel decision for the purpose of...more
10/12/2016
/ Appeals ,
Apple ,
Apple v Samsung ,
En Banc Review ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Validity ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Samsung ,
Smartphones ,
Substantial Evidence Standard
In an opinion addressing the standard for claim construction of a patent that expires during reexamination, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB’s or Board’s)...more
Controlling Costs in International Arbitration -
Arbitration is an efficient means for resolving business disputes because it offers more flexibility than court proceedings and enables the parties to choose arbitrators...more
9/23/2016
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitrators ,
Claim Construction ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Internal Investigations ,
International Arbitration ,
Korea ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
USPTO
The full US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has issued an order granting en banc review of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB’s or Board’s) rules governing amendments filed in the course of America Invents Act...more
9/2/2016
/ America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Burden of Persuasion ,
Burden of Production ,
Claim Amendments ,
En Banc Review ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Sua Sponte ,
USPTO
Controlling Costs in International Arbitration -
Arbitration is an efficient means for resolving business disputes because it offers more flexibility than court proceedings and enables the parties to choose arbitrators...more
8/22/2016
/ America Invents Act ,
Arbitration ,
Computer-Related Inventions ,
Covered Business Method Patents ,
Internal Investigations ,
International Arbitration ,
Korea ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
USPTO ,
White Collar Crimes
The Supreme Court of the United States agreed to review a decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit regarding active inducement infringement under 35 USC § 271(f)(1) in a case important to US manufacturers...more
7/29/2016
/ Appeals ,
Certiorari ,
Component Parts Doctrine ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Damages ,
Induced Infringement ,
Judgment As A Matter Of Law ,
Life Technologies Corp v Promega Corp ,
Manufacturer Liability ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS
In Depth -
The Supreme Court of the United States (Justice Breyer writing for the majority) affirmed a US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision barring judicial review of most decisions regarding institution...more
6/30/2016
/ America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Broadest Reasonable Interpretation Standard ,
Claim Construction ,
Cuozzo Speed Technologies v Lee ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Judicial Review ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
Standard of Review ,
USPTO
In Depth -
Under 17 USC § 505, a “court may … award a reasonable attorney’s fee to the prevailing party.” However, when deciding whether to award attorneys’ fees under the Copyright Act’s fee-shifting provision, 17 USC...more
The Supreme Court of the United States has now agreed to review a 2015 decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit regarding the proper measure of damages in cases of design patent infringement. Samsung...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that a patent owner’s due process rights were not violated when a district court found that the defendant did not infringe all of the originally asserted patents, even...more
The en banc U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its long awaited (10-2) decision, reaffirming the court’s prior rulings in Mallinckrodt and Jazz Photo that a seller can use its patent rights to block resale...more
Lexmark International, Inc., v. Impression Products, Inc., Case Nos. 14-1617, -1619 (Fed Cir, Feb. 12, 2016) (en banc) (Taranto, J., joined by Prost, CJ and Newman, Lourie, Moore, O’Malley, Reyna, Wallach, Chen and Stoll, JJ)...more