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January 30, 2006
Microsoft Office Update
Last
July, Guatemalan native Carlos Armando Amado nailed Microsoft $8.9 million for
infringing
5,537,590, inter-application linking technology which Microsoft had
incorporated into its ubiquitous Office suite. At the time of the ruling,
Microsoft crooned that "we do not believe today's verdict will have any impact
on our customers." Today, Microsoft is singing a different tune.
Continue reading "Microsoft Office Update"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 2:45 PM | Patents In Business
RIM in the Mail
Saturday,
the Toronto-based Globe and Mail
posted an excellent history of the NTP v. RIM case titled, naturally, "Patently
Absurd," though the absurdity does not lie with the patents.
Continue reading "RIM in the Mail"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:11 PM | Litigation
Fortinet Bows To Trend Micro
Under
the gun, software antivirus maker Fortinet settled
with rival Trend Micro
in what had been a raging patent dispute, both in court and before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).
Continue reading "Fortinet Bows To Trend Micro"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:57 AM | Patents In Business
January 26, 2006
The Cure for Junk Patents: Old Hat
The
Wall Street Journal yesterday hit the nail on the head: "In Patent Disputes, A
Scramble to Prove Ideas Are Old Hat." Silliness aside, and there are a lot of
silly patents (see Patently Silly),
junk patents most commonly originate because adequate prior art search isn't
done during examination. To compound the problem, patent owners trot to court
without vetting their wares, potentially costing millions in attorneys fees that
can go up in smoke. For professional prior art searchers, finding old hats that
kill patents is where the action is.
Continue reading "The Cure for Junk Patents: Old Hat"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:03 AM | Prior Art
January 25, 2006
Nellcor Bites The Bullet
Facing
a permanent injunction, and so biting the patent infringement bullet that
delusional RIM (v. NTP) still thinks it can miraculously dodge,
Nellcor, a division of Tyco Healthcare,
itself a subsidiary of industrial conglomerate Tyco International, has agreed to
fork over $330 million for infringing medical device patents owned by
privately-held mighty mouse Masimo.
Continue reading "Nellcor Bites The Bullet"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:59 PM | Litigation
January 24, 2006
Blunt Instrument
United
States Surgical appealed a lower court patent infringement decision in favor of
Applied Medical over
5,385,553, feeling a bit put out about the $64.5 million judgment for
enhanced willful infringement damages, the vig (known as "interest" to you non-mafioso), and attorneys fees.
Scalpel not in evidence, the CAFC (05-1149)
used a blunt instrument.
Continue reading "Blunt Instrument"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:18 AM | Damages
January 22, 2006
Bioprospecting Ire
Bioprospecting
is the technological art of refining biological entities, mostly plant-derived,
into patents, and spinning those into a fattened bank account. And it's pissing
off the natives, who for thousands of years knew of these plants, even
cultivated hybrids using classic techniques explained to Westerners by
Gregor
Mendel (the white geezer at right), but knew not how to score wads o' moola out
of them.
Continue reading "Bioprospecting Ire"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 4:35 PM | Patents In Business
January 20, 2006
Judge Shopping
The
CAFC is letting Microsoft appeal its request for a new judge in the Eolas case,
where Microsoft still faces being dinged one-half billion dollars. Trial judge
James Zagel had refused Microsoft special treatment. How dare he.
Continue reading "Judge Shopping"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:06 AM | Litigation
January 19, 2006
Greedy Grad
Back in the late 1970s, Fredric Stern was a medical student at Columbia University. He approached a long-time faculty member, Lazlo Bito, about doing a single semester ophthalmology research elective in his laboratory. Bito agreed, and directed Stern to begin his project by reviewing Bito’s numerous papers on prostaglandins and glaucoma. Then Bito had Stern run some experiments.
Continue reading "Greedy Grad"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:45 AM | Litigation
Bumper Crop
Biotechnology
giants Dow Chemical and
Monsanto have inked a wide-ranging patent
cross-licensing agreement, and withdrawing from their meddling with each
other's patents. The corporate Hatfield-McCoy feud is finally settled;
thar's peace on the farm at last.
Continue reading "Bumper Crop"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:01 AM | Patents In Business
January 18, 2006
Genesis of a Hack Job
Received an email from Andrew Brandt,
writer for PC World.
"I'm working on a news story about how the flood of technology patents is
affecting computer users. We're looking to focus on examples of "bad" patents
that adversely affect innovation, raise costs for consumers, or make basic tasks
more difficult or complicated for the average computer user." Oh boy.
Continue reading "Genesis of a Hack Job"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 3:50 PM | Patents In Business | Comments (3)
The Patent Office's Oops Program
The
USPTO is extending indefinitely its
pilot program of mini-appeals, which is estimated to save applicants wrongly
rejected at least $30 million annually. The program's success points out the
patent office's failure. As John Doll, commissioner for patent resources and
planning, confessed, "The success of this program shows the patent office was
making rejections that should not have been made."
Continue reading "The Patent Office's Oops Program"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:00 AM | Prosecution
January 17, 2006
Xerox's Strategy
Xerox,
a name once so powerful that the company had to fight losing their trademark
because it had become synonymous with the photocopies their machines produced,
became blindsided by market changes, its business crashed, but is now like a
phoenix rising, thanks to patents.
Continue reading "Xerox's Strategy"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 2:41 PM | Patents In Business
January 16, 2006
EU - Third Time's Charm?
In
a bid for rationality, the European Commission (EC) is trying again to
harmonize patents throughout Europe. Currently, according to a recent European
Union (EU) survey, under the current regime requiring separate registration in
each member state, to register a patent across the EU costs four to six
times what it costs in the U.S.
Continue reading "EU - Third Time's Charm?"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:46 PM | International
January 14, 2006
Patent Quality
Doubtlessly
fishing for business, patent proofreading firm
Intellevate crowed that 98% of issued
patents contain human error. Absolutely fishing for business,
Patent Hawk cut loose that over 40% of
the litigated patents investigated by the firm are lousy for big reason #1:
they're invalid.
Continue reading "Patent Quality"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:31 AM | Prosecution
January 11, 2006
FATback
Microsoft's
FAT patents are back, invincible.
5,579,517 &
5,758,352, the FAT twins, have survived reexamination, sparked by patent
curmudgeon PubPat. Linux supporters quiver, with good reason - Linux infringes
the FAT boys.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 2:55 PM | Patents In Business
Top Prosecutors
Fifteen years running, Oblon Spivak has topped the list of law firms in getting U.S. utility patents granted, and, based on published application numbers, expects the streak to continue at least a few years longer.
Continue reading "Top Prosecutors"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:35 AM | Prosecution | Comments (1)
HP Comes Around on Patents
This
week,
the list of top US receivers of patents was released. The list contained the
usual suspects, including HP. It was not too long ago, HP made news saying that
it was hell bent on gaining the top spot on this list. As a result they went on
a patent writing bender. This was at the same time when they were streamlining
their R&D staff and asking them to focus on near term opportunities.
Continue reading "HP Comes Around on Patents"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 8:57 AM | Patents In Business
January 10, 2006
Process Component
The CAFC turned down a request for an en banc hearing in Union Carbide v. Shell (CAFC 04-1475o) to consider whether § 271(f) applies to method/process inventions, having previously decided it does. The dissent made a lot of sense.
Continue reading "Process Component"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:45 AM | Case Law
Top Drawer
Asian
companies continue to show patenting strength in the U.S., according to figures
just released by the USPTO. While IBM is still top dog, five of the top ten
patenting companies are Japanese, with a Korean sitting in the middle.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 7:09 AM | Patents In Business
January 9, 2006
SeaChange Downstream
nCube
sued SeaChange for infringing
5,805,804. In a jury trial, SeaChange got nailed badly: SeaChange had to pay
double the damages for willful infringement, and two-thirds of nCube's attorneys
fees. So SeaChange asked for a new trial, was turned down, and so appealed (CAFC
03-1341); to no
avail.
Continue reading "SeaChange Downstream"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:24 AM | Litigation
Claim Scope Per Disclosure Redux
LizardTech got its wavelet compression patent dubbed by the CAFC (05-1062 panel) for overreaching in its claim beyond its specification, when only one embodiment had been disclosed. So, desperate, LizardTech appealed for an en banc hearing (05-1062 en banc); request denied. But in its snub, the CAFC put on a little fireworks show between the ruling majority and dissenters.
Continue reading "Claim Scope Per Disclosure Redux"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:09 AM | § 112
January 7, 2006
Patent Statistics Update
Granted
patents & lawsuits are down while application filings rise. Small business and
individual inventors, "the little guy", dominate high technology patenting, but
have a tough road to hoe in profiting from their inventions.
Continue reading "Patent Statistics Update"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:30 AM | Patents In Business | Comments (3)
Backlash to USPTO Cracking the Whip
Patent prosecutors across the country are
echoing Patent Hawk in crying foul
at the patent office for unfairly shifting the burden of examination onto
prosecutors, limiting examinations, and hurting the prospects for deserved
patent protection.
Continue reading "Backlash to USPTO Cracking the Whip"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:04 AM | Prosecution | Comments (1)
January 6, 2006
Patent Reform Coming Together?
Divergent legislative styles in the U.S. House & Senate may dim the prospect of patent reform legislation passage in 2006.
Continue reading "Patent Reform Coming Together?"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:07 AM | The Patent System
January 5, 2006
InterVideo Persuades ITC
Following up on an earlier story, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has agreed to investigate InterVideo's patent infringement accusation against computer maker Dell and three other companies. Intervideo seeks a permanent injunction.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:28 AM | Litigation
January 4, 2006
Limiting Continuations
The USPTO is aiming to cut its backlog by limiting continuations.
The patent office is burden shifting, at
the potential sacrifice of fertile inventors losing some of their patent rights.
Continue reading "Limiting Continuations"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 2:09 PM | Prosecution
January 3, 2006
Patent Suits Drop in 2005
2005 witnessed an 11% decline in new patent lawsuits from 2004, breaking a decade-long trend, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Eight out of the top ten IP case payouts were settled out of court, indicating that companies continue to use the courts to put the writing on the wall, but then settle when that writing becomes clear.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 9:01 AM | Litigation
January 2, 2006
Rates Gone Ape
Immodest New-York based Rates Technology Inc. (RTI) is
suing Google for five billion dollars for
its VOIP Google Talk, as well as going after other companies,
for infringing telephone billing patents
5,425,085 &
5,519,769. RTI is going to give patent trolls a bad name.
Continue reading "Rates Gone Ape"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:25 PM | Patents In Business | Comments (1)
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