Intellectual Property

Expert Analysis

• Giuliani Suspension Highlights Ethical Pitfalls For All Lawyers

  

  Rudy Giuliani’s false public statements regarding the 2020 elections that resulted in his recent suspension from practicing law in New York may seem uncommonly flagrant, but the sanction underscores four ethics risks all attorneys should bear in mind, says Hilary Gerzhoy at Harris Wiltshire.

• Justices' CFAA Ruling Shows Contract Safeguards Insufficient

  

  Because of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Van Buren v. U.S. that violating contractual limitations on proper use doesn't trigger Computer Fraud and Abuse Act liability, courts will likely also find violations of contractual limitations on access insufficient, so businesses should promptly implement technological barriers, says Aaron Dilbeck at Munck Wilson.

• Opinion

  We Need Reliable Data On Patent Agent, Atty Gender Diversity

  

  New U.S. Patent and Trademark Office data showing that four times as many women become patent agents compared to patent attorneys is likely not accurate, and a better measure involves investigating registered attorneys' and agents' statuses over time, says Christopher Turoski at the University of Minnesota Law School.

• Central Bank-Backed Crypto Requires Regulatory Framework

  

  As countries roll out central bank-backed digital currencies, establishing global uniformity in financial and intellectual property regulations will be crucial to prevent fraud, deceptive practices and general confusion, says Ali Dhanani at Baker Botts.

• Anticipating Patent System Change-Ups Under Biden

  

  Though early signs indicate that the Biden administration isn't prioritizing patent system repair, practitioners should carefully monitor the imminent change in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office leadership in advising clients on whether and when to file inter partes reviews, says Kevin Schubert at McKool Smith.

• 5 Practical Takeaways From High Court Arthrex Ruling

  

  William Milliken at Sterne Kessler offers considerations on the narrow scope of the U.S. Supreme Court's holding on Monday in U.S. v. Arthrex, that Patent Trial and Appeal Board judges are unconstitutionally appointed, and contemplates the questions it leaves open for litigants and practitioners.

• Navigating Inadvertent Attorney-Client Privilege Waivers

  

  Spencer Fane’s Deena Duffy offers tips for identifying accidental privilege waivers based on local and federal rules, and for interpreting recent case law when such rules are unclear.

• DOJ Antitrust Letter Charts Path To Higher Ed IP Collaboration

  

  A recent letter from the U.S. Department of Justice to a group of research universities indicated that a proposed technology-focused patent licensing pool contained sufficient competition protections, providing a collaboration road map that higher education can use to support further IP development, say attorneys at BCLP.

• A Practical Metric For Annual Patent Filing Targets: Part 2

  

  Companies can prepare an estimated budget for patent portfolio management by factoring in the expected costs of preparing and filing provisional U.S. patent applications, based on the theoretical target for nonprovisional applications calculated in Part 1 of this three-part article, say Michael Sartori and Matthew Welch at Baker Botts.

• Attorneys Beware: Zoom Depositions Are Likely Inadmissible

  

  As legal proceedings have moved online in light of the pandemic, lawyers may mistakenly believe that recorded Zoom video depositions can be entered as evidence, but without certain safeguards, the testimony is unlikely to be accepted by courts, says Phillip Zisook at Schoenberg Finkel.

• Fed. Circ. Raytheon Ruling Shifts Obviousness Analysis

  

  The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Raytheon v. General Electric collapses distinctions between prior art analyses for anticipation and single-reference obviousness, shedding light on enablement requirements for invalidating patent claims, says John Nilsson at Arnold & Porter.

• Contract Rights Vs. Patent Invalidity: 2 Key Cases To Watch

  

  Depending on how the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court balance private contractual rights and public policy to void invalid patents in two pending cases, practitioners may have to test new ways of protecting patents from challengers who already received contractual benefits, say Howard Susser and Eric Kaviar at Burns & Levinson.

• Opinion

  NJ Fed. Court Should Ditch Litigation Funding Disclosure Plan

  

  The District of New Jersey's wide-reaching proposal to require automatic disclosure of third-party litigation finance poses several problems for attorneys and litigants alike and should be nipped in the bud, say Sarah Williams and Marlon Becerra at Validity Finance.

• Law Firm Talent Must Reflect Shifting US Demographics

  

  Stephanie Scharf at Scharf Banks and Roberta Liebenberg at Fine Kaplan analyze and project U.S. demographic trends to show that law firms that hope to succeed long-term must recruit, retain and advance female lawyers and lawyers of color, and they outline six steps for meeting these goals.

• Thorny Issues Posed By WTO Vaccine Patent Waiver

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  The U.S. government's talks with World Trade Organization member states on waiving certain intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines present complex questions with regard to pharmaceutical industry barriers to entry, existing mechanisms for transfer of vaccine technology and long-standing international treaty obligations, says Catriona Collins at LexisNexis.