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Intellectual Property
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May 15, 2012
USPTO's Latest Fee Hike A Prelude To Even More, Attys Say
A plan announced by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Monday that will raise fees this fall to account for inflation, on the heels of other recent increases, will be another small bite for patent applicants, but more significant hikes are yet to come, attorneys say.
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May 15, 2012
Apple, Netflix, Others Sued Over Mobile Display Patents
Patent-licensing company Rotatable Technologies LLC on Tuesday slapped Apple Inc., Netflix Inc. and multiple other companies with a patent suit alleging infringement of its mobile device display technology.
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May 15, 2012
Ex-Brocade Worker Seeks Sanctions In Trade Secrets Case
A former Brocade Communications Systems Inc. employee asked a California federal judge on Monday to impose sanctions on the data storage company for allegedly forcing him to defend a groundless lawsuit for nearly two years.
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May 15, 2012
Activision Asks Judge To Delay 'Call Of Duty' IP Trial
Activision Publishing Inc. urged a California state judge on Tuesday to postpone the start of a trial over $1 billion breach-of-contract claims brought by the creators of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" who allege Activision cheated them out of royalties from the video game.
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May 15, 2012
Ralph Lauren Prevails In Dispute Over Parody Polo Logo
A novelty T-shirt company's application for a logo showing a polo player falling off his horse is confusingly similar to the famous logo of Ralph Lauren Corp. and does not qualify as parody, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled Monday.
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May 15, 2012
Samsung Gets Some Apple Claims Tossed In Patent Fight
A California federal judge on Monday trimmed claims from Apple Inc.'s patent and trade dress suit accusing Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. of copying the iPhone and iPad, as the suit continues to be pared down in advance of the planned July trial.
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May 15, 2012
Vatican, Benetton Kiss And Make Up Over Pope Ad
The Vatican has resolved its dispute with Italian fashion label Benetton Group SpA over the company's unauthorized advertising image of the pope kissing an Egyptian imam on the lips, the Vatican said Tuesday.
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May 15, 2012
Halliburton Pushes To Keep Fracking Formulas Secret In Wyo.
Halliburton Energy Services Inc. urged a Wyoming state court Monday to uphold public disclosure exemptions for the oil and gas giant's hydraulic fracturing formulas, warning a bid by local citizens' groups to uncover the information could hamstring project development efforts in the state.
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May 15, 2012
Peregrine Says HTC Smartphone Infringes 5 Circuit Patents
Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. sued HTC Corp. and its U.S. subsidiary in the U.S. International Trade Commission and California federal court on Monday, accusing the smartphone maker of infringing five patents covering radio frequency circuitry.
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May 15, 2012
Novartis Pressures Generics Makers Over Exforge ANDA
Swiss drugmaker Novartis International AG on Monday launched separate patent infringement suits against India-based Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd. over their bids to manufacture generic versions of the blood pressure drug Exforge HCT.
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May 15, 2012
European Court Adviser Backs EUR53M AstraZeneca Antitrust Fine
A European Union court has correctly fined AstraZeneca PLC €52.5 million ($62 million) for abusing its market dominance and the European patent system in order to block generic versions of ulcer drug Losec, an adviser to the court said Tuesday.
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May 14, 2012
Microsoft Blocks German Threat In Motorola Patent Fight
A Washington federal judge overseeing a contract and patent fight between Microsoft Corp. and Motorola Inc. over video and wireless technologies on Monday granted Microsoft’s request to block Motorola from enforcing a German court’s May 2 order barring Windows and Xbox sales there.
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May 14, 2012
Roche, Helsinn Sue Dr. Reddy's Over Bid For Generic Aloxi
Roche Palo Alto LLC and Helsinn Healthcare SA on Friday hit Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. with a patent infringement suit challenging the rival drugmaker's attempt to get U.S. approval of a generic version of their anti-nausea medication Aloxi.
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May 14, 2012
Nvidia Teams Up To Buy 500 Wireless Tech Patents
Nvidia Corp. has jointly acquired about 500 advanced wireless communication patents with patent-licensing company Intellectual Ventures in a move designed to shore up Nvidia's defenses against patent infringement claims as it develops its own 4G LTE products, it announced Monday.
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May 14, 2012
ObjectVideo Sues Pelco Over Video Analysis Patents
Video analytics software developer ObjectVideo Inc. on Friday filed suit in Virginia accusing Pelco Inc. of infringing on three patents covering methods for capturing and processing video data.
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May 14, 2012
Supreme Court Declines Havana Club Trademark Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review an appeals court decision that since the government has authority to revoke any exceptions to the Cuban trade embargo, a state-owned Cuban company doesn’t have a "vested right to perpetual renewal" of its Havana Club trademark.
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May 14, 2012
Fed. Circ. Revives Apple's Shot At Injunction Against Samsung
The Federal Circuit on Monday partially vacated an order denying Apple Inc. a preliminary injunction in its fight against Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., giving Apple another chance at stopping its rival's sales of certain tablet computers in the U.S.
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May 14, 2012
Choate Picks Up Patent Ace From Goodwin Procter
Choate Hall & Stewart LLP has bolstered its intellectual property capabilities with the addition of patent expert from Goodwin Procter LLP to its Boston office, the firm said Friday.
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May 14, 2012
LongHorn Steakhouse Sued By Tiny Texas Rival Over Marks
LongHorn Steakhouse operator Darden Restaurants Inc. was hit Thursday with a lawsuit in Texas federal court alleging the 370-strong chain is infringing the trademark and confusing the customers of two family-run restaurants in Corpus Christi, Texas.
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May 14, 2012
Nokia, T-Mobile Accused Of Treading On 5 Wireless Patents
Technology licensing company Adaptix Inc. hit Nokia Siemens Networks US LLC and T-Mobile USA Inc. with a patent infringement suit Thursday in Texas federal court, accusing them of infringing five wireless telecommunications patents.
Expert Analysis
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Trending Topic: Twitter's 'Innovator's Patent Agreement'
Twitter's new “Innovator’s Patent Agreement” — a policy covering assignment of inventions by Twitter employees to Twitter — appears to be an attempt to square the open-source ethos of Silicon Valley developers with the reality that software patents are becoming increasingly valuable assets to their employers, says Andrew Liddell of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.
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In-License Agreements With Nonprofits: 5 Considerations
Many of the most profitable technologies being developed and commercialized by tech companies — particularly in the areas of life sciences and clean technology — were initially developed by nonprofit institutions. There are five often overlooked issues that should be considered by a company when negotiating an in-license agreement with nonprofits, say attorneys with Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC.
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The Blurring Line Between Semi And Bio
People in the nanotechnology industry are noticing that the line that has typically — and clearly — divided semiconductor technology and biotechnology is now beginning to blur. IP practitioners need to realize that this new semi/bio combination is highly technically complex, and they need be ready to handle that, says Francisco Castro of McAndrews Held & Malloy Ltd.
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A Murality Play
There are few cases involving art murals, but recently, a muralist filed suit against RCA Records Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment over a music video that features one of her murals. The complaint touched on some interesting issues, including the tension between copyright and public space, say Valentina Shenderovich and Christine Steiner of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.
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Limiting The Application Of The CFAA And EEA
After U.S. v. Nosal and U.S. v. Aleynikov, we can expect that prosecutors at least in the Ninth Circuit may be more conservative in their application of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, limiting CFAA prosecutions to hackers, and that courts in the Second Circuit and elsewhere may apply limits to the Economic Espionage Act as well, say Robyn Crowther and Benjamin Au of Caldwell Leslie & Proctor PC.
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Resolving Life Science Collaboration Disputes
Life science companies frequently collaborate to develop drugs or devices. Some collaboration agreements refer disputes to arbitration. Others are silent so any disputes go to court. On the whole, arbitration works better to resolve disputes that occur during the collaboration, while court litigation works at least as well and maybe better to resolve disputes that occur after the collaboration ceases, says Kirke Hasson of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
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Case Study: In Re Youman
The Federal Circuit decision in In re Youman provides some comfort to patentees seeking to file a broadened reissue where only some of the surrendered subject matter is “recaptured” and also provides useful rules for determining how much subject matter can be permissibly recaptured, says Gerald Murphy of Birch Stewart Kolasch & Birch LLP.
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The Inequitable Conduct Defense — 1 Year After Therasense
While commentators widely proclaimed that last year's Federal Circuit ruling in Therasense Inc. v. Becton Dickinson & Co. had raised the bar so high as to sound the death knell for the inequitable conduct defense, several recent decisions have proved otherwise, and suggest that, in practice, the bar may have been at the same height all along, say attorneys with Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.
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Where Rubber Hits Road: Examples Of Alternative Fees
Creating new approaches to fee agreements is something to embrace rather than fear — and when structured and managed correctly, it can be financially advantageous. Take, for example, fixed-fee arrangements, result-based billing and portfolio billing, say Bill Rudnick and Keith Maziarek of DLA Piper.
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A Call To Arms — 365(n) And Trademark Licensees
The Seventh Circuit decision in In re Lakewood Engineering & Manufacturing Co. Inc. is much anticipated and will be extremely important for trademark licensees. It will, however, be even more important as a guide for statutory construction and the appropriate use of legislative history, say Victor Vilaplana and Matt Riopelle of Foley & Lardner LLP.