The US Supreme Court recently held that when a licensee files a declaratory judgement against a patentee claiming that its products do not infringe the licensed patent, the patentee bears the burden of proving infringement. The Supreme Court overruled the Federal Circuit, which had concluded that the licensee plaintiff bore the burden of proof since […]
Archive for the 'News and Events' Category
Protecting Your Developments: Patent Or Trade Secret
Thomas McGurk recently authored a column for Biodiesel Magazine entitled “Protecting Your Developments: Patent Or Trade Secret”. Read the article here Protecting Your Developments: Patent Or Trade Secret
AIPLA 2014 Mid-Winter Institute
The AIPLA 2014 Mid-Winter Institute is being held in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mid-Winter Institute will cover many intellectual property topics with focus on Global IP Strategy and Global IP Enforcement.
Motorola Mobility v ITC
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided in Motorola Mobility LLC v. International Trade Commission that Motorola Mobility violated Sec. 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 by importing and selling mobile devices that infringed a Microsoft patent. Because Motorola’s argument that the claim in question was anticipated by inherency failed to […]
Medtronic v Boston Scientific
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on November 5, 2013 in the declaratory judgement case of Medtronic v Boston Scientific. The oral arguments focused on whether the plaintiff in a declaratory judgement action has the burden of proof of non-infringement or whether the historical burden that the patent holder prove patent infringement applies. The […]
Lifescan v Shasta
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the grant of a preliminary injunction, originally granted by the district court on a finding of likely indirect infringement, because the defendant had established patent exhaustion as a matter of law. The Federal Circuit held that the patent exhaustion principal applies to all transfers, even as […]
Randall MFG v Rea
On appeal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Board of Appeals and Interferences, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the Board’s finding of non-obviousness and that the examiner incorrectly found a motivation to combine references in the prior art to reject the claimed invention. The Federal Circuit found […]
NCube (Arris Group) v Seachange
The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of a motion for contempt of an injunction order brought by Arris Group against Seachange Corporation. Seachange modified its product in an attempt to avoid an injunction filed against it in a previous infringement action. The opinion is here NcubevSeachange
AIPLA Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of the American Intellectual Property Law Association will be held October 24-26 in Washington D.C. With intellectual property attorneys from around the world will be attending the three day conference focusing a wide variety of intellectual property topics.
USPTO Open For Business
As of October 4, 2013, the USPTO is open for business during the Federal shutdown. Operating on reserves, the USPTO will continue to provide services. If reserves become exhausted, the USPTO will close but provide a small staff to accept new patent applications and maintain IT infrastructure.