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January 31, 2008
Justification, Please
From
a study prepared for the Biotechnology Industry
Organization (BIO):
There is a lack of evidence that justifies overhauling the patent system in a way that could potentially disrupt the incentives of industries that rely on patents to innovate... The empirical data which is being used to justify the need for overhaul either has serious methodological limitations or is non-existent... It cannot be said, with any degree of certainty, that there is or is not a problem with patent quality, patent thickets, litigation abuses, or any other potential impediments to innovation and successful commercialization... There is no basis to believe that the proliferation of patents is hindering research.
Implementing overhaul measures aimed at weakening patent rights and enforcement mechanisms is dangerous because innovation often depends on strong patent rights and enforcement mechanisms. The danger to innovation increases when overhaul is implemented without methodologically sound empirical data.
Continue reading "Justification, Please"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 8:17 PM | The Patent System | Comments (1)
Trying to Change the Channel
TiVo
successfully sued EchoStar for infringing
6,233,389, claiming time-shifted TV program recording and playback; a jury
finding finding infringement for both software and hardware claims, awarding $74
million in damages. EchoStar had an injunction stayed pending appeal. On appeal,
EchoStar did its best to tweak the claim construction to avert disaster.
Continue reading "Trying to Change the Channel"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:57 PM | Claim Construction | Comments (1)
Trustworthiness
In
January 2005, Rambus sued memory chip
makers Hynix,
Micron, and
Nanya for infringing more than a
dozen patents. The defendants fought back with a goon ringer: the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC, among
other things, produced
a scathing
120-page liability opinion, which the memory makers wanted entered into
evidence for their patent litigation. The judge said
no,
finding the report neither the product of an investigation nor reliable.
Continue reading "Trustworthiness"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:21 AM | Litigation | Comments (1)
January 30, 2008
On the Clam
Barracuda
Networks is crying for a lifeline from the open source software community in
its patent infringement fight with Trend Micro.
That cry
is being answered with lofty words; factual ballast not in evidence.
Continue reading "On the Clam"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 6:24 PM | Litigation
Outlet Inclusion
Oatey
sued IPS for infringing its patent on residential washing machine outlet boxes,
6,148,850. After Markman, the district court granted summary judgment of
non-infringement, based on a claim construction excluding a depicted embodiment.
The exclusion was excluded on appeal.
Continue reading "Outlet Inclusion"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:21 PM | Claim Construction | Comments (1)
Restraint
American
Seating sued USSC Group for infringing
5,888,038, claiming a wheelchair restraint system for buses. On the second
wheeling to the appeals court, invalidity by prior public use and lost profits
damages were the issues.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 2:21 AM | Prior Art
January 29, 2008
Outside Looking In
Gernot
Pehnelt wonders in the
DesMoinesRegister why the U.S. Congress is hell-bent to deform the patent
regime.
The American system is regarded as the strongest protector of patent rights in the world. Unfortunately, the U.S. Congress is considering "reforming" the system... Proposed changes could have potentially devastating consequences to research-based industries, especially the pharmaceutical industry... The patent-reform bill would reduce incentives to perform research and development, threaten jobs at home and abroad and damage trans-Atlantic trade relationships, which have brought wealth and vital goods to the United States and Europe.
By passing the Patent Reform Act of 2007, Congress would replace many of the best aspects of the U.S. patent system with the worst aspects of the European system.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 6:22 PM | The Patent System
Holey Bone
Trimed
sued Stryker for infringing its bone fracture fixer patent:
5,931,839. Claim construction fractured the assertion, resulting in a
noninfringement summary judgment. Trimed had the misconstruction mended on
appeal. The spat was over the structure of a hole.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 5:47 PM | § 112
January 28, 2008
Dr. PatentLove
or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love Proposed Damages Apportionment Law
The blawgosphere is alive with discussion of proposed patent reform. Patent Troll Tracker today mocked Dennis Crouch for his support of the status quo. Here at Patent Prospector, we maintain a healthy amount of skepticism about the proposed legislation. Patent Hawk earlier pointed out how the new damages apportionment rules could potentially raise the cost of litigation for accused infringers by requiring the disclosure of more (highly proprietary) information about the cost, revenue, and profit of accused products and processes. For my part, in an earlier post I called the new damages apportionment rules "the crudest and most error-prone way to handle bad patents." The worry is that judges and juries will tend to "split the baby" by lowering some damages awards, which in may cases are properly justified by the economic value of a patented technology. The political reality is that a Congressional amendment to the law suggests the inference that current reasonable royalty awards have been too favorable to patentees. (See, for example, how many injunctions have been awarded to non-practicing entities since Mercexchange v. eBay.) Information asymmetries between judge or jury and the expert witnesses and parties should be part of the equation in designing the rules, as some recent antitrust law scholarship suggests.
Despite this skepticism, I cannot agree with Dennis that "the proposed patent reforms now being debated by the Senate do virtually nothing to address these serious problems and instead potentially cause harm to the current regime." Specifically, Dennis points out "massively overlapping claims" as a problem for the current patent system. Since earlier posting strong criticism of the proposed damages apportionment rules, I've come around to seeing how the proposed rules could actually improve the efficiency of patent markets afflicted with the transactions costs associated with "massively overlapping claims." Here's how:
Continue reading "Dr. PatentLove"
Posted by Michael Martin at 4:43 PM | Damages | Comments (7)
Troll This
In
the semiconductor patent litigation of Rambus versus Hynix, Samsung, Nanya and
Micron: Judge Ronald Whyte in the Northern District of California ruled in favor
of Rambus's in limine motion "to preclude the use of derogatory
characterizations of patents and patentholders, granting the motion as to the
term “patent troll” and limiting the use of the term “submarine patent.”" The
pejoratives may still be used during closing argument.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 4:35 PM | Litigation | Comments (1)
Earmarked
Daiichi
Sankyo sued Apotex for infringing
5,401,741, which was found obvious
on appeal. In
securing a temporary injunction at the outset of litigation, Daiichi had posted
a $5 million security deposit. New Jersey district court judge Susan Wigenton
last week awarded the deposit to Apotex, "to recover damages for wrongful
injunction." Daiichi gets to keep the interest paid on the deposit.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:00 PM | Damages | Comments (1)
Fighting Criminal Action
Last
week, Triantafyllos Tafas filed an
opposition brief to the USPTO's summary judgment motion in the matter of
stopping implementation of the agency's proposed rules limiting patent filings
and examination. Tafas backed with evidence alleged lies and cover-up by PTO
management in its totalitarian approach to rulemaking.
Continue reading "Fighting Criminal Action"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:13 AM | The Patent Office | Comments (3)
January 27, 2008
Reminder
In
the Christian
Science Monitor, Alexander Poltorak, CEO of General Patent Corporation,
reminds Congress of the fundamental nature of patents, and reminds us of the
craven corruption of our elected officials in sucking up to a narrow but
well-moneyed special interest.
A self-proclaimed goal of the Patent Reform Act is to decrease patent litigation. But lawmakers have forgotten that a patent does not even give an inventor the right to practice the patented invention – only the right to exclude others from practicing it.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 8:50 PM | The Patent System
Ni Nihongo
Translations
of select entries in The Patent
Prospector are available in Japanese.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 8:24 PM | International
January 26, 2008
Corn Pone
Monsanto
brought a declaratory judgment action against Bayer Bioscience to preclude
infringement for its transgenic corn products. It worked: the patents were found both non-infringed and invalid by inequitable conduct. Bayer's appeals were futile.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 2:24 PM | Inequitable Conduct | Comments (2)
January 25, 2008
Fools Gold
In a drive to have abstraction triumph over reality, the
International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) thinks it can develop an international standard for patent valuation. It's
an academic economist's wet dream.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:56 PM | Patents In Business
Cash Cow Killed
N-Data
bought
5,617,418 and
5,687,174, claiming autonegotiation Ethernet switches. The original owner, National Semiconductor,
had agreed to license the patent for a song if the technology was adopted as a
standard, which it was; now a widely adopted IEEE standard called NWay. Ignoring the supposed license cap, N-Data allegedly
began an extortion campaign. The FTC caught wind of it, and decided to break
wind on it: charging violation of
15 U.S.C. § 45, unfair competition.
Continue reading "Cash Cow Killed"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 7:26 PM | Patents In Business | Comments (1)
Indefinite Drilling
Halliburon
sued M-I for infringing
6,887,832, claiming oil drilling using fragile gels for drilling fluid. The
problem was that "fragile gel" was ill-defined, leading to invalidity under
35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶ 2. Irresolvable ambiguity to one skilled in the art is
the yardstick of indefiniteness. The CAFC pens a claim construction classic on
delineation of claim term definiteness.
Continue reading "Indefinite Drilling"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:50 PM | § 112
January 24, 2008
Heavy Drinking
Having
wet its whistle on everyone's favorite VOIP patent whipping post, Vonage,
Sprint Nextel is ringing the bell
for more rounds against an itty-bitty bevy of mobile phone service providers:
Big River Telephone, Broadvox, NuVox, and Paetec Communications were plastered in four separate lawsuits.
Continue reading "Heavy Drinking"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:52 PM | Litigation
Non-Smoking
Short of white smoke emanating from the Dirksen Senate Office Building, widespread predictions are spreading around Washington, D.C. that Senator Leahy now has slightly more than the 60 votes needed for cloture - the procedural vote to permit rapid Senate passage of Leahy, S. 1145 patent reform legislation. Everyone expects that if cloture succeeds, there will be some changes made in the bill (presumably already agreed upon behind closed doors). Swift House passage of the revised Senate version is expected in press reports.
Continue reading "Non-Smoking"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 4:28 PM | The Patent System | Comments (6)
January 23, 2008
At the Bar with a Girl Named Wiki
Patent Agent Alex Nix recently created Patent Bar Questions, a Wiki, inspired by a thread at Intellectual Property Forums, geared toward poor souls preparing for that test that separates the savvy from the savant. The relatively simple site is bifurcated: Key Things to Know for the Patent Bar Exam, a chapter by chapter walkthrough of the MPEP that highlights key sections; and Questions reportedly asked in the Patent Bar Exam, a listing of questions reported by those who have recently taken the exam. Since reported strictly from memory, the questions are not comprehensive, instead reading more like concept areas. The Wiki is currently a wee sparse; hence, better treated as a supplemental source of information, rather than a primary. For those wanting in-depth Patent Bar study materials, one of the many commercial-test-prep companies is still the way to go. Yet, like any good Wiki, Patent Bar Questions is community supported, and so the amount of available insight will inevitably grow.
Posted by Mr. Platinum at 4:52 PM | Prosecution
On the Agenda?
Nevada
Sen. Harry Reid, majority leader,
jaw-jawed his Senate colleagues yesterday. After remarks about the economy
swirling the rim, native American health care, spying on other
countries, and building more weapons, Reid sandwiched "patent reform and an
energy package" in the same paragraph, because they go together like a fish
needs a bicycle.
On patent reform, we must carefully strike the right balance with a bill that promotes rather than blocks innovation from enterprising entrepreneurs.
Continue reading "On the Agenda?"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:39 PM | The Patent System
Swear It
The
patent office will be refusing defective oaths for patent applications as of
June. Shape up and swear like you mean it when you file.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:23 PM | Prosecution | Comments (2)
January 22, 2008
Damages Apportionment Blowback
The
presently
proposed Senate revision to awarding patent infringement damages
incorporates an old concept in new clothing: damages apportionment.
Prior to
the patent act of 1946, § 284 provided for such hair-splitting, and was
referred to by the patent commissioner at the time as "one of the sorest spots in
the enforcement of the law in the United States." What could it mean this time
around?
Continue reading "Damages Apportionment Blowback"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:04 PM | Damages | Comments (2)
Begging Equity
Biomedical
Patent Management is begging the Supreme Court to waive patent sovereign
immunity in the cause of fairness. But fairness matters not a whit when pitting
the state's self-interest against anything else.
The state looks after itself; citizens are just cows to be milked. Patent infringement
impunity is entitled under sovereign immunity.
Continue reading "Begging Equity"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 5:09 PM | The Patent System | Comments (1)
Swan Song
KSR
obviousness claims another victim. Sang Su Lee, one of the longest running ex
parte appeals, at 14 years (the first BPAI opinion was 1994), was knocked out in
the second round by the CAFC in a simple Rule 36 order (a per curiam affirmance
without an opinion: CAFC
2007-1191).
Round one vacated the BPAI decision for failing to specify a motivation for a
combination obviousness finding. Motivation became passé as KSR sucked the
oxygen out of the CAFC's longstanding teaching-suggestion-motivation (TSM) test.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:39 PM | Prior Art | Comments (2)
January 20, 2008
Trolling
Academics from
NERA, a self-proclaimed economic
consulting hothouse, who spurt that they "understand how markets work,"
demonstrate to the contrary in
a report on
the mythical patent troll, scintillating to a degree that guarantees no loss of
sleep.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:53 PM | Patents In Business | Comments (4)
Amberwave
Amberwave
is an R&D firm focused on advanced materials development for high technology
applications. Patents are its lifeblood; which is why Amberwave is fighting to
retain semblance of sanity in the patent arena. In our continuing series on
"Heroes of the Patent Wars," an Amberwave snapshot.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 4:37 PM | Patents In Business
Funhouse Mirror
You already know that the best sources of patent news and views are
in the blogosphere. Patents are quintessentially an inside game: proper
perspective incumbent to practitioners, sensationalism set aside in everyday understanding
of patents for
what they really are: intellectual property; nothing more, nothing less. To
outsiders, patents are something else: feared; or coveted, capable of
alchemistic transmutation to gold. It is precisely because the patent game is the
"sport of kings":
an inventor's lottery, and fierce fuel for the economic engine, that patents draw
the media like roaches to candy. The droppings those roaches leave offer no surprise.
Continue reading "Funhouse Mirror"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:21 AM | Patents In Business
January 19, 2008
Between
Travel
Caddy sued Outside the Box Innovations (OTB) for infringing
6,991,104,
which goes to a bag for storing and carrying tools. Denied a preliminary
injunction based upon claim construction, Travel Caddy fruitlessly appealed,
though in a close 2-1 call over what it means to use "between."
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:07 AM | Claim Construction
January 18, 2008
Fervor
Let
us praise CEO
Jean-Pierre Garnier and IP VP Sherry Knowles of
GlaxoSmithKline for carrying the torch as they
scorch Senate Judiciary Committee bigwigs who have flipped their wigs to sashay
with a toupee because of what they forgot to say; to aver the stead of not
giving the PTO its head in capricious rulemaking.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:08 PM | The Patent System
January 17, 2008
Oops!
Abbott
had lousy lawyers defending it against
Innogenetics patent
5,846,704. Abbott passed an opportunity to correct a court mistake, thus
leaving it without expert testimony from one expert. Abbott farted around on
invalidating the patent, not producing the ringer until the last day of
discovery. And Abbott simply blew the chance to have the inventor of the
anticipating art act as expert witness. For all its pains, its defense crumbled
with a losing claim construction, Abbott suffered summary judgment of
infringement, and ordered to pay Innogenetics attorneys' fees because its
inequitable conduct charge was "exceptional" in its vacuity. In liability trial, Abbott's expert
testimony was soiled because it "rested on an inaccurate understanding" of a key
claim limitation. Abbott was dinged $7 million and its infringement found
willful by jury; the willfulness charge lifted by the district court judge, who
knew how high that bar had been raised
In re Seagate. But Abbott then was pinned with a permanent injunction.
Appeal gave Abbott another chance, which it largely threw away.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:18 PM | Case Law
Free Green
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and IBM have joined forces to form Eco-Patent Commons , a pledged portfolio of environmentally friendly public domain patents, designed to promote innovation and clean up our contaminated planet, one patent at a time.
Posted by Mr. Platinum at 11:45 AM | Patents In Business
Deform Ahead?
2007
may have passed, but the Patent Reform Act thankfully didn't. Passed in the
House last session 220-175, it never made it to floor of the Senate in the 110th
session. But it's not dead:
key
senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee remain committed to passage.
Continue reading "Deform Ahead?"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:16 AM | The Patent System | Comments (2)
January 16, 2008
Exhaustion Exasperated
Today's
oral arguments before the
Supreme Court in Quanta v. LG over patent exhaustion were exasperating, if
you thought patents should always be exhausted by first sale. Maureen Mahoney,
on behalf of Quanta, attempting to exhaust, was so scripted she could hardly do
more than spit case law citations. Thomas Hunger, U.S. Government lapdog,
ostensibly arguing for Quanta's position, that a patent exhausts with first
sale, regardless of contractual terms, sounded so mixed up that he prompted
Chief Justice Roberts to observe: "That would sound like your friend on the
other side, the Respondent, had actually won in this case."
Continue reading "Exhaustion Exasperated"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 4:38 PM | Exhaustion | Comments (7)
January 15, 2008
A
Baldwin
Graphic Systems sued Siebert for infringing
5,974,976 and
Re 35,976, aimed at cleaning printing presses. After Markman, the district judge granted summary judgment of non-infringement of both
patents. The CAFC differed on the claim construction by an 'a': 'a' not
connoting singularity. On another
point, similar terms may play differently in different claim classes.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 2:07 PM | Claim Construction
January 14, 2008
The Perils of Prosecution
With
proclivity to despotic rule-making, USPTO management has issued edict to trash examination to the lowest common denominator.
Playing the numbers to demonstrate its toughness, top management determination was to sink
the allowance rate. Many moons ago, anticipating outcry at examination
injustice, the agency geared up for a ramp in appeals. Outrageous incompetence
is in full flower at the PTO. The governmental agency representing the
sanctity of invention has been so corrupted as to soil itself in disgrace; in doing so, pointing out the woeful
neglect of its overseers.
Continue reading "The Perils of Prosecution"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:50 PM | Prosecution | Comments (25)
Suspicious Procedures
An
amici curiae brief filed late last month by Polestar Capital Associates and
The Norseman Group in the
Tafas v. Dudas USPTO rules imbroglio tears the agency a new one:
The PTO failed its procedural rulemaking obligations. The PTO asserted that certain documents did not exist; yet now they have suddenly appeared in the administrative record. The PTO’s procedures are “suspicious” at best, and suggest that the “administrative record” is not an accurate or representative record of open-minded and reasoned decision making, but rather an ex post collection of documents cherry picked for this litigation.
Continue reading "Suspicious Procedures"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:12 AM | The Patent Office | Comments (3)
January 12, 2008
Pay Wave
PrivaSys
is printing money with
7,195,154, claiming secure contactless credit card transaction processes.
Going a few rounds with MasterCard ended in settlement in August 2006. In March
2007, First Data opened its wallet. Now, Visa, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo
splash out.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:19 AM | Patents In Business
January 11, 2008
Patent Pal
Jay
Wahlquist of Fogg & Powers offers
Patent Pal, a web browser toolbar
tuned to patent search and news. There are numerous patent search engines
available in cascading drop-down menus, covering patent databases worldwide; as
well, other databases of patent information oriented towards prosecutors.
There's also a newsfeed for patent blogs. Nice work, and definitely worth
checking out. Thanks Jay!
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:23 PM | Prior Art
Free to Cripple
Stinger
Systems, proclaiming itself on its web site as "leaders in electro-stun
technology" (don't ask how a single company can be plural "leaders"; they would
have to hurt you), was delighted to announce that reexamination concussion and
shrapnel eliminated
5,936,183, titled "Non-lethal area denial device", owned by competitor
Taser.
Continue reading "Free to Cripple"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:47 AM | Patents In Business
January 10, 2008
Green Over Patents
Bruce
Springsteen once wrote: "Poor man wanna be rich; rich man wanna be king; and a
king ain't satisfied 'tll he rules everything." In their raw lust for hegemony,
creating "a new category of reportable transaction" for tax-related patents, the
IRS resembles Springsteen's rich man.
Continue reading "Green Over Patents"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 5:03 PM | The Patent System | Comments (4)
Sony Spot
Sony
Electronics is looking for a legal director in its San Diego corporate
headquarters, "to serve as technology/transactional legal counsel for Sony’s
television, wireless and information technologies engineering groups..."
Posted by Patent Hawk at 3:13 PM | Patents In Business | Comments (1)
Not So Obvious
KSR was a radical reinterpretation of the obviousness statute,
35 U.S.C. §103(a).
Now codified as case law without prospect of legislative correction, so much has
become obvious that only a few avenues of claiming novelty are left. But those
paths are becoming well worn.
Continue reading "Not So Obvious"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:40 AM | Prior Art | Comments (22)
January 8, 2008
Self-Enabled Destruction
SRI
sued Internet Security Systems and Symantec for cyber security and intrusion
detection patents. Summary judgment that SRI had created its own anticipatory
prior art was upheld. Prior art is enabled as anticipatory if it suggests
the invention to one of skill in the art. In a rehash of what constitutes public
accessibility, a 2-1 appeals court majority fails to follow federal rule and its
own precedent.
Continue reading "Self-Enabled Destruction"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:13 PM | Prior Art | Comments (9)
Sanctioned
Six
attorneys involved in a Qualcomm
video patent assertion fiasco against Broadcom were sanctioned for
"monumental" discovery violations, and referred to the State Bar of California
for possible discipline. Presiding U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major found:
[The attorneys] assisted Qualcomm in committing this incredible discovery violation by intentionally hiding or recklessly ignoring relevant documents, ignoring or rejecting numerous warning signs that Qualcomm's document search was inadequate, and blindly accepting Qualcomm's unsupported assurances that its document search was adequate.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:09 AM | Inequitable Conduct | Comments (3)
January 7, 2008
Unstenting
Cordis
separately sued Medtronic and
Boston Scientific for
infringing "patents covering vascular stents that are used to treat coronary
artery disease;" winning both cases. Losers appealed. In the blowup, Cordis
had a claim invalidated, so appealed that. All appeals were consolidated,
resulting in one long ruling focused on claim construction and prosecution
estoppel.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 6:56 PM | Claim Construction | Comments (1)
When the Chips are Down
Tessara
is putting the pressure on at the ITC and in district court against a bevy of
chip makers and importers for infringing chip packaging patents. The move is, in
part, an attempted counter against falling stock price, which has declined 5.4%
over the last year.
Continue reading "When the Chips are Down"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:08 AM | ITC
January 6, 2008
Headphoned
Bose
is attempting noise reduction in the market for headphones, lodging complaint at
the ITC against Panasonic, Creative Labs, and Logitech, among others, for
infringing
5,181,252 and
6,597,792.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:51 PM | ITC
January 4, 2008
Chop Chop
Former
Chinese Senior Judge Yongshun Cheng mocks the scurrying of the puffy white
baboons in the large rotunda building in the U.S. capitol. Judge
Cheng figures that the patent reform proposals before Congress "will weaken the
right of patentees greatly, increase their burden, and reduce the remedies for
infringement; friendlier to the infringers than to the patentees in general as
it will make the patent less reliable, easier to be challenged and cheaper to be
infringed."
Posted by Patent Hawk at 9:09 PM | The Patent System | Comments (2)
Here We Are Now
Intertainer
had its business model hammered, shuttering operations in 2002 and launching an
antitrust suit against major players in the TV industry. What little it had left
in assets became video-on-demand patent
6,925,469, which it asserted at the end of 2006 against Apple, Google, and
Napster. The three defendants counterclaimed for declaratory judgment. Apple has now settled.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:41 AM | Litigation
Pressing the Flash
SanDisk
owns a portfolio of over 800 patents worldwide related to flash memory.
Persistent persuasion is required. Pressed by assertions in Western Wisconsin court and
the ITC, PNY Technologies has just settled with a cross-licensing agreement.
Continue reading "Pressing the Flash"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:23 AM | Patents In Business
Tracking Trucking
Patent
enforcer Acacia manages a
four-patent portfolio, owned by Telematics, for combining wireless communication
with GPS tracking. The portfolio was asserted against UPS, @Road, Xata, Verizon,
Ryder Truck Rental, Motorola, Teletrac, and Sprint Nextel. While a few others
fight on, Sprint has settled.
Continue reading "Tracking Trucking"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:59 AM | Litigation
January 3, 2008
Whoa!
The National Association of Patent Practitioners
(NAPP) has
written Senate leaders to set them straight about proposed patent
legislation: "the problem is that essentially all of the major proposals in the
current bill would weaken patents."
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:58 PM | The Patent System | Comments (18)
January 2, 2008
Dip
IP
Law 360 reports IP lawsuit filings dipping 8% in 2007 from 2006. With last
year's declaratory judgment rulings encouraging litigation at the expense of
negotiation, and the patent office unlawfully sphinctering allowances, patent
court filings may rally in 2008.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 5:35 PM | Litigation
Barbequed
The
cell phone chip battle of the decade sizzles on. Though Broadcom pecked first in
2005, Qualcomm started it by playing "chicken," and has been roasted on the spit
ever since. After suffering an
ITC import ban
last year, Southern California U.S. District Judge James Selna has slapped
another injunction on Qualcomm.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 5:11 PM | ITC
January 1, 2008
On the Docket in 2008
After
proving themselves randomly competent at best in 2007, the high courts will
continue to define patent law as Congress dickers with wrong-headed "reform."
Here are 2008 high court patent cases that may demonstrate that clown time is
not over on the bench.
Continue reading "On the Docket in 2008"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 4:59 PM | Case Law | Comments (1)
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