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May 30, 2006
Obviousness
In
Teleflex v. KSR, the U.S. Solicitor General (SG) filed a
vacuous
brief in support of patent examiners and judges deciding a
patent's validity on whim, with no supportive evidence.
Continue reading "Obviousness"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 9:07 PM | Prior Art | Comments (2)
Tumbling Dice
Reflection
on the Supreme Court's mud sling on injunctions in eBay v. MercExchange appears
to embolden infringers to fight on. The knock-on effect may be to raise damage
awards, fueling outcry for patent reform.
Continue reading "Tumbling Dice"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:31 AM | Injunction
May 28, 2006
Patent Crisis of the 1830s
David
French, an Ottawa patent attorney for
Milton, Geller, has written a fascinating paper on the
U.S. Patent Crisis of the 1830s, historical continuity, and parallels to
today's patent reform issues.
Continue reading "Patent Crisis of the 1830s"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:45 PM | The Patent System
May 26, 2006
JPEG Compressed
As expected in the normal course of such affairs, the patent office issued a non-final rejection of the 19 broadest claims (of 46) in its reexamination of 4,698,672, the notorious JPEG patent; a reexam prompted by the self-appointed guardian of the patent public interest: PUBPAT.
Continue reading "JPEG Compressed"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 2:15 PM | Prosecution
Interference Inoculation
An
interference occurred between
5,770,212 (Falkner) and 08/459,040 (Inglis), both with claims going to
preparing a vaccine against poxvirus. The Patent Board of Appeals &
Interferences (PBAI) ruled that Inglis was senior party; that is, Inglis
deserved the earlier priority date. Falkner appealed (CAFC
05-1324).
Continue reading "Interference Inoculation"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:37 PM | Interference
May 25, 2006
Patent Prosecution Highway
Aiming at an international pendency problem, the U.S. and Japan's patent
agencies are joining in a
patent prosecution cluster farce, together building a so-called
Patent Prosecution
Highway, hoping applicants filing for patents in
both Japan and the U.S. will jump through hoops to get granted claims on either
side of the puddle fast-tracked on the other side, whatever that amounts to.
Prosecutors: start your engines, and prepare to sit in traffic.
Continue reading "Patent Prosecution Highway"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:27 AM | Prosecution
May 24, 2006
Patent Skimming
Mitchell
Medina, an evangelical minister with a taste for offshore patent holding companies,
is funding his Kenya ministry with patent extortion. Medina has 17 U.S. patents,
including one for retrieving dog poop (5,403,050).
How apropos.
Continue reading "Patent Skimming"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:53 PM | Patents In Business
May 23, 2006
Rocket Docket Bill
H.R.
5418 arrived late last week, aimed at improving patent jurisprudence at the
trial court level.
Continue reading "Rocket Docket Bill"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:40 AM | The Patent System
May 21, 2006
Foul Play?
Symantec
filed a complaint in Seattle court Friday against Microsoft for infringing
6,826,661, and for stealing trade secrets. Symatec's attorneys observed,
"Over the course of nearly a decade, Microsoft has deliberately and
surreptitiously misappropriated Symantec's valuable data storage technologies."
This is no slight miscommunication, even as the principals ho-hum the affair in
the press.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:40 PM | Patents In Business
May 20, 2006
Cracking The Whip
In
a push to have pendency punk'd, the whip comes down at the patent office. As
Lynyrd Skynrd put it, "what's that smell?"
Continue reading "Cracking The Whip"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:10 AM | The Patent Office
May 19, 2006
Snow Plow
Frank
Iraci received
4,807,375 for a electronic adjustment device to automatically raise a
snowplow when a truck with an attached snowplow backed up. The device has had considerable
market acceptance, but Frank had a tough time plowing his way through court to a
meager return against infringer Meyer-Diamond.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 2:37 PM | Litigation
Injunction Juncture
Speculation
is bubbling about what impact the
MercExchange v. eBay Supreme Court ruling is going to have. With regard to
injunctions, the general forecast is muted, though it may cast a long shadow
over posturing and the quality of asserted patents.
Continue reading "Injunction Juncture"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:37 AM | Injunction | Comments (4)
May 17, 2006
Xboxing
Monday,
Microsoft counterclaimed with 10 software patents against Lucent in its
Xbox
patent suit. Constantly barraged for patent infringement by non-product
companies, Microsoft howls for patent reform. A quieter affair, this is just
business as usual.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:33 AM | Litigation
May 16, 2006
Means-Plus-Function Claims
Applied
Medical Resources sued United States Surgical for infringing
5,385,553, a surgery facilitating device, the latest suit in a long line of
litigation. In its ruling, the CAFC enunciated a precise process for determining infringement of a means-plus-function claim.
Continue reading "Means-Plus-Function Claims"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:03 PM | Claim Construction
Patent Office Corruption
NTP alleged that Research in Motion (RIM) sought to illicitly influence the patent office's reexamination of NTP patents during the NTP-RIM patent spat that finally settled with RIM paying NTP $612 million. Sure, RIM chief Jim Balsillie is that kind of guy. But, according to NTP, top officials at the patent agency, including USPTO head Jon Dudas, violated federal rules in colluding with Balsillie, and, naturally, trying to cover it up.
Continue reading "Patent Office Corruption"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:09 AM | The Patent Office | Comments (1)
May 15, 2006
Injunction Mud
The
U.S. Supreme Court, in a deceptive unanimous decision, has muddied the basis for
granting a permanent injunction against patent infringers, with self-subversive
concurring opinions tacked on. In the closely watched case of MercExchange v.
eBay, eBay will be allowed to continue to infringe, at least for now.
Continue reading "Injunction Mud"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:49 PM | Injunction | Comments (9)
May 14, 2006
Patent Payoff
Bruce
Bigelow of the San Diego Union Tribune newspaper wrote a well-researched
article May 14 about profit-optimizing business strategies revolving around
patents, and the concept of an IP community.
Continue reading "Patent Payoff"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 5:41 PM | Patents In Business
Patent Pejorative
A patent propaganda coalition is forming, euphemistically named: The Coalition for Patent Fairness. CPU-reliant (common misnomer: high-tech) companies want to incite self-interested change of patent laws, lobbying Congress to gut patent enforcement. Expect to hear even more about the patent pejorative in the woodpile: patent trolls.
Continue reading "Patent Pejorative"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:00 AM | Patents In Business | Comments (1)
May 11, 2006
Host Interface
Inpro
II Licensing sued T-Mobile & Research in Motion for infringing
6,523,079, losing on a narrow claim construction of "host interface,"
and doing no better on appeal (CAFC 2006,
05-1233). Inpro
should have known better.
Continue reading "Host Interface"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:14 PM | Claim Construction
May 10, 2006
Patent Auction Plus
CNET
News reports that the
April Ocean Tomo auction results improved in after-auction selling. While
only 26 of the 78 patent portfolios went off the block during the auction,
accruing $3 million, five lots in after-auction sales nabbed another $5.4
million. According to Ocean Tomo, that's a transaction rate of nearly 40%; not a
bad batting average.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 9:05 PM | Patents In Business
Discovery Chill
The wake of the
CAFC ruling May 4 regarding privilege & discovery in TiVo v. EchoStar
is even now being felt. The trend will be for law firms and in-house counsel to
be very circumspect in their communications, even internally, surrounding patent
infringement opinions; a lot less will be discoverable documentation, email
included.
Continue reading "Discovery Chill"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:48 AM | Litigation
Amish Attitude
Andis
Kaulins has declared "A
Constitutional Chaos" over granting patents for high-tech inventions.
"Software patents... are garbage." The patent office is "clueless," as is the
entire U.S. legal community, including Congress and the courts.
Continue reading "Amish Attitude"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:06 AM | The Patent System | Comments (2)
May 9, 2006
Up the Creek
Old
Town Canoe sued Confluence Holdings for infringing
4,836,963, which goes to a process for making plastic boat hulls by
rotational molding. Confluence got a summary judgment of non-infringement based
upon claim construction, but lost counterclaim motions on invalidity and
enforceability. So the parties appealed the rulings that went against them. The
CAFC (05-1123) found
the district court had been hasty in some of its summary judgment rulings, glossing
over disputable facts. And a well-reasoned dissent argued that the whole case
was overdone.
Continue reading "Up the Creek"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 2:24 PM | Litigation
May 8, 2006
Privilege & Discovery
In the TiVo v. EchoStar case which TiVo recently won, the issues of document revelation with regard to opinion counsel & attorney-client privilege, and discovery of work-product documents, came into play. In a ruling May 4, the appeals court (Misc-803o) clarified: [1] if relying upon opinion counsel to avoid willful infringement, attorney-client privilege is completely waived for the relevant subject matter; [2] work-product discovery is limited to determining the "infringer's state of mind". The court stated: "The attorney-client privilege and the work-product doctrine, though related, are two distinct concepts and waiver of one does not necessarily waive the other." "[D]ocuments analyzing the law, facts, trial strategy, and so forth that reflect the attorney’s mental impressions but were not given to the client... [are] not discoverable."
Continue reading "Privilege & Discovery"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:22 PM | Case Law
May 6, 2006
Trolls, Toads & Rats
Some
weekend rambling about patent trolls, toads and rats, beginning with patent troll
James
Fergason, aiming to help other patent trolls. Way to go
James.
Continue reading "Trolls, Toads & Rats"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:12 AM | The Patent System | Comments (5)
May 5, 2006
The Post Office, Patent Infringer
Paymaster
Technologies sued the U.S. Post Office in 2002 before the U.S. Court of
Federal Claims for infringing
5,292,283. Like any ornery patent infringer, USPS fought tooth and nail,
finally losing before the appeals court yesterday (CAFC
05-5025).
Continue reading "The Post Office, Patent Infringer"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 9:05 PM | Litigation
May 3, 2006
RIM's Countermove
Wednesday,
RIM filed a countersuit against Visto in a different Texas district, seeking
declaratory judgment, and attempting to change venue. Huh?
Continue reading "RIM's Countermove"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:10 PM | Litigation
May 2, 2006
Canon's Cheap Shot
St.
Clair Intellectual Property Consultants, with a portfolio of 22 U.S. patents,
many oriented towards digital cameras, is having much success in its enforcement
campaign, racking up jury wins against Fuji for $3 million, Sony for $25 million, and
most recently Canon for $34.7 million. Eastman Kodak, HP, and Nokia are on the docket. The
Canon case was nothing short of outrageous.
Continue reading "Canon's Cheap Shot"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 4:34 PM | Litigation
May 1, 2006
RIM Shot Again
Visto,
a maker of wireless email software, has asserted four patents against hapless
Research In Motion (RIM). RIM is already
blathering about non-infringement and invalidity. NTP, which successfully pinned
a
$612.5 patent infringement tab on RIM, holds a minority stake in Visto.
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