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October 30, 2006
Patent Standard
Historically,
some standards committees have been naive, blind to adopting a
standard incorporating patented technology, with the result that adoptees of the
standard had to fork out patent license fees to a company having kept its mouth
shut until the standard was set and widely adopted. This happened with standards
for images (.gif & .jpeg), DRAM, and wireless communications. Now, at least one
standards setter has set a standard in being patent savvy.
Continue reading "Patent Standard"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 9:09 PM | Patents In Business
October 29, 2006
Amazon Bows
Amazon's
2006 Q3 earnings report, filed with the SEC last Thursday, revealed that Amazon
settled with Cendant in its infringement assertion of
6,782,370, an ecommerce recommendation patent. A year ago, Amazon settled a
similar suit from Soverain Software for $40 million, another settlement revealed
through SEC filing. Is this an omen for the
IBM assertion against Amazon? Does the pope wear a robe?!
Continue reading "Amazon Bows"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 6:19 PM | Litigation
Still Rising
As
reported in
the
Patent Prospector last month, Ms. Yoon Ja Kim lost an appeal in enforcing her
patent,
RE36,355, against ConAgra.
Ms. Kim's admirable spunk is displayed herein by her comments regarding her
concerns.
Continue reading "Still Rising"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:19 PM | Case Law
October 27, 2006
International Evasion
The Supreme Court today granted certiorari for Microsoft in its appeal (from CAFC 04-1285) against patent infringement conviction of AT&T's RE 32,580. The issue is 35 U.S.C. § 271(f).
Continue reading "International Evasion"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:59 AM | Case Law
Pissed Away
Aussie
Dr. Alexander O'Neil invented a urinary catheter (4,652,259)
that reduced the risk of urinary tract infection by limiting the length of
the catheter sheath to stop short of a natural pressure barrier in the bladder.
Dr. O'Neil also stopped short of disclosing the known best mode in his 1979
patent application, finally rectifying the specification in his 1985 CIP. But
O'Neil had published an article with specifics in 1982. [CAFC
05-1241]
Continue reading "Pissed Away"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:35 AM | Prior Art
October 24, 2006
Patent Stock Index
The
Ocean Tomo 300 Patent Index launches Wednesday on the American Stock Exchange. It is the first major stock index
based solely on corporate IP in the past 35 years. This is yet another chip on
Ocean Tomo's growing pile of patent monetization mechanisms.
Continue reading "Patent Stock Index"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 6:56 PM | Patents In Business
October 23, 2006
Big Blue Whacks Amazon
Patent
powerhouse IBM has filed suit against Amazon in the Eastern District of Texas.
IBM first notified Amazon in September 2002 of its "licensing opportunity", but
Amazon balked. As IBM isn't exactly known as Mr. Sloppy, Amazon is either out to lunch, has hidden cards to play, or a bit
of both.
Continue reading "Big Blue Whacks Amazon"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:36 PM | Litigation
Chinese Patent Spats
The
Financial Times reports that Chinese companies, learning the ropes, are
becoming increasingly assertive about patent rights in the U.S.
Continue reading "Chinese Patent Spats"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:02 AM | International
October 22, 2006
Patent Pendency Pending
The
deck chair shuffling on the ship of patent pendency revealed a bit more
configuration clarity this past week. IDS & ten-claim limits in, continuation
limitations out. No sitting place in evidence for concern about patent quality.
Continue reading "Patent Pendency Pending"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:27 AM | The Patent Office
October 19, 2006
Fragile Gel
Halliburton
has successfully drilled for multi-billion dollar contracts in Iraq, thanks to
its Dick Cheney connection. But drilling on the patent front, it couldn't gel,
its claims too fluidly fragile to be construed. The indefinite claim term lost
in lubrication: "fragile gel."
Continue reading "Fragile Gel"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 3:51 PM | Claim Construction
20/20 Take 2
While
others
rattle on with their own bias,
Professor Gregory Mandel of Albany Law School attacks hindsight bias with
empirical research and well-reasoned analysis. "Humans are cognitively unable to
prevent knowledge gained through hindsight (here, that the invention was
achieved) from impacting their analysis of past events, as required for the
proper ex ante analysis. Because of this hindsight bias, individuals routinely
overestimate the ex ante predictability of events after they have occurred."
Mandel's paper
is crucial reading for anyone not blinded by their own bias to hindsight.
Continue reading "20/20 Take 2"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 8:18 AM | Prior Art
October 18, 2006
Hush Hush Patenting
Under the
Invention Secrecy Act of 1951, the government may impose a secrecy
order on patent applications whenever the disclosure "might be detrimental to
the national security." Secrecy can be imposed even when the application is
filed by an individual or company without government sponsorship or support. In
such instances, the patent grant can be withheld.
Continue reading "Hush Hush Patenting"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:00 AM | Prosecution
October 16, 2006
Reissue Reissue Issue
Medrad was granted 5,494,036, "Patient infusion system for use with MRI." But the patent itself needed an infusion, so, within two years of issue, Medrad filed for a reissue. It got the reissue (RE 37,602), but in the process, neglected to file a reissue declaration (per 37 C.F.R. § 1.175). Asserted, it fell on the procedural error. So, Medrad filed for a reissue of the reissue (RE 36,648). But that didn't fly in court either, because the basis of the 2nd reissue was procedural, deemed outside the scope of the reissue statute (35 U.S.C. § 251). In the appeal (CAFC 06-1082), § 251 is interpreted as offering broad relief as a curative for prosecution error.
Continue reading "Reissue Reissue Issue"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:36 AM | Reissue
NE Asian Patenting Tsunami
WIPO reports patent activity worldwide for 2004. The most
common press report is how the
Chinese have got patent fever, but the
Mainichi Daily News naturally angles that Japan continues to file the most
patents.
Continue reading "NE Asian Patenting Tsunami"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:03 AM | International
October 12, 2006
Recapture
Medtronic,
a medical device maker, filed a declaratory judgment action against Guidant,
more precisely, the interests holding
RE 38,119, a re-issue of
4,928,688. Reissue is the issue, and in a non-precedential CAFC ruling (05-1515),
the boundaries of recapture are encapsulated.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 7:56 PM | Reissue
Low Power
At
the turn of the century, Silicon Valley debutante Transmeta shipped a low-power
microprocessor, the Crusoe, a promising debut for the laptop and portable device
market. The product promise was never realized. Intel's Pentium III shipped
shortly before, making billions to Crusoe's millions. Now Transmeta claims Intel
tucked into its Pentium Transmeta's patented technologies.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 4:17 PM | Litigation
October 11, 2006
On the Path to Obviousness
Dennis
Crouch reports in Patently-O on second-round briefs in KSR v. Teleflex, the
first case on obviousness before the Supreme Court in 30 years. Dennis crafted a
wonderful summary of the issue that is essential reading. But of course there's
Patent Hawk's two cents...
Continue reading "On the Path to Obviousness"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:36 AM | Prior Art
October 10, 2006
Power Up
Power
Integrations zapped Fairchild Semiconductor for willfully infringing four
patents. Tuesday, a Delaware jury awarded almost $34 million in damages, at a
strikingly high 15% "reasonable" royalty rate.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:50 PM | Damages
Claim Construction Incongruity
Hal
Wegner makes a provacative point that the CAFC reviewing
claim construction de novo as a question of law totally ignores the fact-based
inquiry required for claim construction. Is claim construction a finding of
fact, or the product of legal analysis rooted in fact?
Continue reading "Claim Construction Incongruity"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:04 AM | Claim Construction
October 9, 2006
ReExam Limited
Feeling
emboldened to publicly state that it slacks off whenever it wants, owing to a
recent East Virginia district court victory in
Sony
v. Dudas, the patent office announces that reexamination will be limited to
whatever the examiner feels like reexamining. Nothing has changed.
Continue reading "ReExam Limited"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:07 AM | Prosecution
October 8, 2006
Xapped
Xap
got xapped by CollegeNet
last week for patent infringement and violating federal antitrust law by
lying to its customers: colleges & universities, about keeping student data
private.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 7:32 PM | Litigation
October 6, 2006
Unthreaded
Martin
G. Reiffin, a former IBM patent attorney, claims to have invented computer
software multi-threading in two patents:
5,694,603 &
5,694,604. They're now deservedly dead. (CAFC
06-1063)
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:34 PM | Litigation
Extortion
Among
many others, Eon-Net sued banker Flagstar Bancorp for infringing
6,683,697. As the court put it, "In this case, as in its various other
infringement actions, Eon-Net followed services of the complaint with a cheap
offer of settlement." (Western District of WA
C05-2129MJP).
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:03 PM | Litigation
October 5, 2006
Hung Up
Broadcom
and Qualcomm have been entangled in litigation for years, filing suits and
countersuits in venues all over the country. Broadcom tried to get the ITC on
its side, but the issues are so complex, the assigned administrative judge
backed off, postponing a decision. Down in San Diego, Qualcomm home court, Judge
Anthony Battaglia asked the chairmen of the two companies, Broadcom's Henry
Samueli and Qualcomm's Irwin Jacobs, to hunker down and reach an agreement for
10 pending lawsuits. To naught.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:22 PM | Litigation
Jet Ski Smash
Kawasaki
Heavy Industries just sued Sea-Doo jet ski manufacturer Bombardier Recreational
Products for infringement of five patents - a broad spray of claims. Kawasaki doesn't just want damages -
they want trebled damages for willful infringement, preliminary and permanent
injunctive relief, attorneys fees, and a court order impounding and destroying
the infringing products.
Continue reading "Jet Ski Smash"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:01 PM | Litigation
October 4, 2006
Wacky Ideas
Some patented levity: the San Jose Mercury News yesterday published "Wacky ideas get respect at the U.S. Patent Office."
Continue reading "Wacky Ideas"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 8:45 PM | Prosecution
Dyeing the Prior Art
Every
obviousness case it gets nowadays, the CAFC polishes its chops by elaborating
its flexible interpretation of anticipation via prior art combination, preening
to the Supreme Court for the upcoming KSR v. Teleflex battle. In Dystar v. Bann
(and Patrick), a patented dyeing process was found valid and infringed by the
district court judge, who scalded the defendants a whopping $90,000 in damages
(that's right, $90,000). Reeling, they appealed (CAFC
06-1088).
Continue reading "Dyeing the Prior Art"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:03 AM | Prior Art
October 2, 2006
Rocket Docket Bill Passes House
H.R.
5418, for a pilot project of throwing spare change at federal district courts to
streamline patent litigation, passed by voice vote in the House today.
Continue reading "Rocket Docket Bill Passes House"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 3:20 PM | The Patent System
Blowup
Aero Products,
which makes & sells inflatable air mattresses, sued
Intex Recreation for patent (5,367,726) and trademark
infringement. Aero won both, and Intex appealed (CAFC
05-1283). There
was a claim construction dispute of interest, as well as an award of double damages
on appeal.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 2:00 PM | Damages
October 1, 2006
Polished Look for Dumb Algorithms
For
all the carping about junk patents, there's one patent that's never
controversial: patent leather. The
Seattle Times reminds that, "One of the shining stars of the fall fashion
season is patent leather." This story courtesy of
Google News, whose fancy algorithms aren't
smart enough to distinguish news stories about patents from those on patent
leather.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:19 PM | Patents In Business
Examiner Attrition
The Denver Business Journal, in an article largely about Denver possibly hosting a satellite office of the PTO, reported last week: "About 3,000 people work as patent examiners...They're hiring a thousand examiners a year, and they still can't keep up with demand... The heavy workload has resulted in an attrition rate as high as 30 percent for first-year hires."
Posted by Patent Hawk at 7:59 PM | The Patent Office
Acacia Gets Personal
Acacia
Technologies issued a press release late last week of its
acquisition of a web personalization patent: technology for learning user
preferences and automatically personalizing a user's online experience. Once
considered an invasion of privacy, web personalization has taken off in recent
years.
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