Intellectual Property

What IP Attorneys Need To Know About 5G

With some companies planning to launch proprietary 5G services by the end of this year, attorneys should prepare for certain legal issues, such as the internationalization of 5G royalties and the challenge of calculating royalties for 5G-related patents, say Ranganath Sudarshan and Jason Reinecke of Covington & Burling LLP.

Opinion

Only Congress Can Stop Courts' Patent-Eligibility Nonsense

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is planning guidance to address the patent examination problems created by the courts’ interpretation of Section 101. Instead, the USPTO should focus on the legislative fix proposed by intellectual property trade associations, says Nancy Linck of Linck Consulting.

A Call For Relativity In Patent Remedies

For the benefit of all stakeholders in the patent system, litigants, experts and judges should pay closer attention to claim scope and type when assessing infringement remedies. Not every claim is of equal technological or societal value, nor is infringement of every claim equally harmful to the patent owner, says Daniel Brean of the University of Akron School of Law.

Opinion

The ABA Was Dead Wrong About Model Rule 8.4(g)

In the two years since the American Bar Association's controversial anti-discrimination and harassment rule, only one state has adopted it, while numerous state supreme courts, state attorneys general and legal groups have correctly rejected Model Rule 8.4(g) as a threat to lawyers' First Amendment rights, says Bradley Abramson, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom.

When A Blog Post Leads To Antitrust Liability

It is not uncommon for companies to issue statements about pending litigation. But a California federal court's recent decision in Arista v. Cisco shows that, in some circumstances, such statements could be seen as part of an anti-competitive scheme, say Daixi Xu and Julie Shepard of Jenner & Block LLP.

Opinion

USPTO's Shift On AIA Claim Construction Is A Mistake

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's rule change on the broadest reasonable interpretation standard may be within the scope of the director’s powers, but it is contrary to the congressional understanding of inter partes review, to the U.S. Supreme Court’s reasoned consideration of the topic, and to sound public policy, says Joshua Landau of the Computer & Communications Industry Association.

Opinion

The Supreme Court Should Become Boring

In the aftermath of Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation, the U.S. Supreme Court should decline review of the nation's most polarizing political questions unless and until the questions become time-sensitive, says Alexander Klein, head of the commercial litigation group at Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco LLP.

Q&A

Back To School: BC's Kent Greenfield Talks Corporate Law

In this series featuring law school luminaries, Boston College Law School professor Kent Greenfield reflects on his corporate law theories, his legal battle with the Pentagon over free speech and gay rights, and important constitutional law issues to watch out for.

Avoid Overlap In Trade Secret And Misappropriation Claims

As highlighted in the Federal Circuit's recent decision in Texas Advanced v. Renesas, plaintiffs hoping to assert trade secret misappropriation and patent infringement claims in the same lawsuit must craft damage theories carefully to avoid running afoul of the prohibition against double recovery, say attorneys at Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP.

Kavanaugh Cannot Be Compelled To Recuse Himself

Whether Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s prior statements may be grounds for disqualification when it comes to judging certain cases is debatable, but there are no specific recusal guidelines for the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices themselves don’t even agree on where to draw the line when it comes to perceived political bias, says Donald Scarinci, a founding partner of Scarinci Hollenbeck LLC.