Patents

    by Alejandro Menchaca I've previously written about the Minerva assignee estoppel case, currently pending at the Supreme Court: here. In case you don't have time to read my article, I've summarized the parties' arguments in the following short poem. Patent Assignor: In daytime, I write up the ... Read More

Never before has there been so much hope that the mobile app store tyranny may come to an end. It's a marathon, not a sprint. There'll be appeals, and the freedom fighters of the Digital Era may experience setbacks. But the first week of March  2021 may very well be ... Read More

The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) is hoping to help push through some patent law reforms and recently published a letter to Congressional leaders on IP reform reiterates suggestions already given to the White House. What are the proposals: Legislation on subject matter eligibility to re-expand the scope of eligibility ... Read More

In my post “The German UPCA Ratification – at Schweinsgalopp towards Mautdebakel” on this blog, I cautioned the German Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection against ignoring the apparent political and legal problems with Germany ratifying the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) with the same wording as it had before ... Read More

In any legislative context, a reform proposal will be described as overreaching by its opponents, while its supporters will typically ask for more. However, there's a wide corridor to which this applies. In a section of that corridor, there may be room for a reasonable compromise. At its margins, only ... Read More

In an earlier post we considered the general licensing and evaluation issues raised by a report issued in January 2021 by the EU Group of Experts on Standard Essential Patents (EU SEPs Expert Group). The present comment focuses on the transparency aspects highlighted by the Expert Group’s report. Transparency of ... Read More

Authentic Apparel v. US (Fed. Cir. 2021) Authentic makes branded apparel, and had a non-exclusive license from the US Army to make Army branded items. (Signed back in Aug 2010).  One line of clothing was going to feature The Rock (Duane Johnson) with Army-Style clothing. (Seriously though, tie those shoes). ... Read More

SynKloud Technologies, LLC v. Adobe, Inc. (Supreme Court 2021) This petition for writ of certiorari fits nicely into my Civil Procedure teaching calendar because we are now arriving at the topic of discretionary transfer under 28 U.S.C. § 1404. SynKloud sued Adobe for patent infringement in Waco (W.D. Tex.).  Adobe ... Read More

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this situation that is rampant in the industry.

https://t.co/Xb5HNfxqlH This video might be a good starting point for a course on intellectual property law. — Dennis Crouch (@patentlyo) March 3, 2021 ... Read More

At the beginning of the year, the Russian Government granted the first compulsory license on a series of Big Pharma’s patents.  For the first time ever, “public security” clause has been evoked.   According to the Decree 3718-r, Pharmasintez JSC, a Russian generic company, has been granted a 1-year compulsory ... Read More

Here's a follow-up to my very recent commentary on HB2005, a legislative proposal preventing Apple and Google from requiring developers to use only one payment system per mobile app store. Republican state lawmakers Dr. Regina Cobb and Leo Biasiucci sponsored the bill.Today, the Arizona House of Representatives--one of the two ... Read More

Wow, lots of new amicus in the patent eligibility case of American Axle v. Neapco, including a joint filing from Sen. Thom Tillis, Hon. Paul Michel, and Hon. David Kappos. The trio argue that the current state of patent eligibility doctrine is “an unintelligible hash” causing significant systemic problems. [Tillis Brief]  ... Read More

As of February 2021, it is still too early to have a clear and complete view of how the COVID-19 health, economic, and social crisis has affected patent filing trends and how innovation specifically dedicated to cope with the present “new normal” situation is the object of patent protection. This ... Read More

After a post on a Texas-size patent damages verdict in the Western District, we're now hopping over to the traditional patent (troll) litigation hotspot, the Eastern District of Texas.In Judge Rodney Gilstrap's court, Ericsson brought a FRAND action against Samsung in mid-December, not even knowing that the Korean electronics giant ... Read More

Texas has a reputation for being big and going big. With respect to patents, it's unfortunately also notorious for going off the deep end at times--not all parts of the Lone Star State, but two of its federal districts. For a long time, the Eastern District was synonymous with patent ... Read More

No surprises here: Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California entered a written order confirming what she already discussed with counsel for Epic Games and Apple on Monday. According to Pretrial Order No. 1, the App Store antitrust bench trial will start ... Read More

VLSI Technology LLC v. Intel Corp. (W.D. Tex. 2021) The jury just returned in Judge Albright’s first patent trial of 2021. The result: $2.18 Billion Dollars to VLSI for Intel’s infringement.  The patents were previously owned NXP Semiconductors, who obtained them by buying up Freescale Semiconductor and SigmaTel.  NXP will apparently ... Read More

by Dennis Crouch Rain Computing, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics (Fed. Cir. 2021) Rain and Samsung agree that this case comes down to claim construction.  And, as typical, the patentee is attempting to thread the needle with a construction that is broad enough to be infringed, but narrow and specific enough ... Read More

The report issued in January 2021 by the EU Group of Experts on Licensing and Valuation of Standard Essential Patents (EU SEPs Expert Group) was long-anticipated and followed two years of debate and discussion within the group. The published document is very long and wide-ranging (229 pages). Given the scope ... Read More

Many people in other parts of the world, especially in Europe, don't like to hear this, but this world isn't as multipolar as some would have it. Instead, there are simply two economic superpowers, the U.S. and China, who are rivals in many ways and whose political systems are fundamentally ... Read More

Bayer Healthcare LLC v. Baxalta Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2021) A jury sided with the patentee Bayer — finding the patent infringed and not proven invalid.  The judge refused to allow the jury to decide willfulness, and instead found no willful infringement as a matter of law. Affirmed here on appeal. ... Read More

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California said at the outset of today's Epic Games v. Apple case management conference that this is a very significant case, so the judiciary should give it the best it has to offer, which is ... Read More

In a recent article, Judge Hughes was quoted as saying that he does not personally look at petitions for rehearing that stem from R.36 no-opinion judgments by the Federal Circuit. Hughes said if the panel affirmed without an opinion, he puts the petition down and waits to hear from his ... Read More

Normal service looks to have been resumed following the Court of Appeal judgment in IPCom v Vodafone [2021] EWCA Civ 205, in which Arnold LJ reversed a first instance finding by Recorder Douglas Campbell QC that Vodafone was entitled to a defence of Crown use in respect of certain acts ... Read More

We are pleased to bring our readers another guest post by Amit Tailor, discussing a recent practice he has observed of the IPAB/Board ‘suggesting’ amendments to patent applicants, and allowing them without concurring with the Controller. The post also goes on to review the statutory vires of this practice. Amit ... Read More

Thematic Highlight A Draft “Open” IP Syllabus In this post, Swaraj shared the first draft version of an ‘Open’ IP Syllabus that he along with a small team of researchers has worked on in the last few months. The syllabus is aimed to contain materials that are legally and publicly ... Read More

Chandigarh to launch special start-up policy soon; 57 countries back India’s proposal for IP waiver on Covid-19 vaccine; Ms. Anjali S delivers a talk on Patent prosecution and Patent Opposition; Mr. Gaurav Mishra delivers talk on Patent infringement and defenses in Biotech research; Solas OLED and LG settle patent dispute; ... Read More

by Dennis Crouch United States v. Arthrex, Inc. (Supreme Court 2021) Whether, for purposes of the Appointments Clause, U.S. Const. Art. II, § 2, Cl. 2, administrative patent judges of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are principal officers who must be appointed by the President with the Senate’s advice ... Read More

Recent Headlines in the IP World: Bella Pinera: Toyota Motor North America Continues To Lead in R&D Patents Among Automakers (Source: Dallas Inovates) Kirsten Errick: Slack Sued for Infringement of Instant Messaging Related Patents (Source: Law Street Media) Sam Potter: First Bitcoin ETF in North America is Launching in Canada Today (Source: Financial ... Read More

This is just my first post on legislative initiatives in multiple states concerning mobile app stores, so I've really just begun to research the topic and have a lot to learn.A couple of weeks ago, the North Dakota state senate voted against a bill that would have required Apple's App ... Read More