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September 30, 2009
Fraudulent
Advanced
Software sued Federal Reserve banks and Fiserv in Federal district court for
infringing process patents "for detecting fraudulent bank checks." The checks at
issue were U.S. Treasury checks. 28 U.S.C. Section §1498(a), dating to 1910 and
broadened as a World War I war powers act, limits patent infringement liability
by the U.S. to compensation granted through the Court of Federal Claims.
Otherwise, the government cocks a snoot at such a suit.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:43 PM | Case Law
September 28, 2009
Productivity
In
the eyes of an economist, all inventions go to one purpose: increasing human
productivity. Less effort for equivalent result. More bang for the buck. Patents
are intended as incentive for increasing productivity. Patentability is
circumscribed by utility: a patented invention must be useful. Natural
phenomenon are not patentable, but harnessing such a phenomenon is (think
electrons racing around defined circuits). As a result, increasing productivity
always alters the way humans organize their activity. However things were done
in the past, an invention changes how somebody may do something. The dictionary corresponds
with this by defining 'technology' as "the practical application of knowledge."
On all points foregoing, the U.S. government does not converge.
Continue reading "Productivity"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 4:41 PM | § 101 | Comments (9)
September 27, 2009
Brain Damaged
Janssen
battled a gaggle of generic
drug makers over "a method for treating Alzheimer's disease with galanthamine."
The patent of contention was
4,663,318. The issue before the courts was enablement (§112 ¶1), which, on
appeal, the
CAFC majority tied to utility (§101) for instant determination.
Continue reading "Brain Damaged"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:30 PM | § 112
September 26, 2009
Antipsychotic
Teva
and Sandoz tangled with AstraZeneca by trying to butt in on its patented
antipsychotic drug. Their filing an ANDA riled AstraZeneca to assert
infringement of
4,879,288. Defendants filed a summary judgment motion of inequitable
conduct, which the district court denied. Another recitation on the high bar for
finding inequitable conduct.
Continue reading "Antipsychotic"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:57 PM | Inequitable Conduct | Comments (1)
September 24, 2009
Stamped
Kara
Technology owns
6,505,179 and
6,505,179, claiming verifying the authenticity of documents, such as postage
stamps and airline tickets. Kara sued erstwhile business partner Stamps.com for
infringement. Kara got a bad claim construction and lost at trial. And so, from
the CAFC, another reminder about stamping claims with undue limitations.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:00 PM | Claim Construction
September 23, 2009
Teed Off
Dr.
Richard S. Lister came up with the idea of letting golfers tee fairway balls "to
obtain better scores in a shorter time." In 1994, pro se, he submitted a
manuscript to the Copyright Office. Two years later he caught wind that he
needed to file a patent. He's been fighting the patent office ever since, as
they insist his copyrighted manuscript constitutes publically accessible prior
art. His rejoinder is that it was never public. Lister finally got to the court
of appeals.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 9:32 AM | Prior Art
September 20, 2009
Stirred
Vita-Mix
is a blender maker with
5,302,021. Vita-Mix sued competitor Basic for patent and trademark
infringement. The district court let Basic off the hook in summary judgment. On
appeal, the CAFC limited prosecution disclaimer, and found potential matters of
fact that revived the issue of infringement.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:07 PM | Case Law
September 19, 2009
Stood Up
AsymmetRx
sued Biocare over cancer detection patents which Harvard owns by assignment.
AsymmetRx had a conditional exclusive license, while Biocare had its own
conditional non-exclusive license. Before asserting the patents, "AsymmetRx was
to 'give careful consideration to the views of Harvard and to potential effects
on the public interest in making its decision whether or not to sue.'" AsymmetRx
did no such thing. At issue was standing.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:33 AM | Standing
September 18, 2009
Patented Treatment
Prometheus
Labs got patents (6,355,623;
6,680,302) on "methods for calibrating the proper dosage of thiopurine
drugs, which are used for treating... autoimmune diseases." "[N]on-responsiveness
and drug toxicity may complicate treatment in some patients. To that end, the
patents claim methods that seek to optimize therapeutic efficacy while
minimizing toxic side effects." The claims go to two steps: 1) administer the
drug, and 2) determine "the levels of the drug's metabolites." Yes, drug
treatment is patentable.
Continue reading "Patented Treatment"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 1:22 AM | § 101 | Comments (2)
September 14, 2009
No Padding
Lydall
sued Federal Mogul for infringing
RE39,260. "The '260 patent is directed to flexible insulating shields that
can be used for thermal and acoustic insulation." It came as no consolation that
there was no insulation from a claim construction that rendered the assertion a
dereliction.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:38 AM | Claim Construction
September 11, 2009
Form Fitting
In the salad days of personal computing, Ben Day came up with a "touch screen
form entry system" while working at AT&T.
4,763,356 resulted. Current owner Lucent disingenuously sued Dell and
Gateway over it, while Microsoft software was the real culprit. Microsoft
indemnifies its big corporate customers, and so stepped in. And lost. To the tune of $358
million. Bad tune. So bad, the CAFC called it tone deaf. Herein, two teams of
randomly competent lawyers dance bad ballroom.
Continue reading "Form Fitting"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 5:31 PM | Damages | Comments (1)
September 9, 2009
Petrified Wood
Carpenter
Ron Nystrom has been trying to beam Trex and others with
5,474,831, claiming a wood flooring. In his first suit against Trex, he lost
on claim construction,
appealed,
got a remand, but had waived equivalents, and so the case fell to the floor. So
Nystrom filed a second suit. "In this suit, Nystrom based his infringement claim
solely on the doctrine of equivalents."
Continue reading "Petrified Wood"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:02 PM | Claim Construction
September 4, 2009
Junk Examination
To
characterize USPTO examination quality over
the past 20 years as uneven would be a complimentary understatement. 'Good
enough for government work' would be more like it, with 'shoddy' pithily
on-point. In the 1990s the PTO granted reams of junk patents, creating a
political firestorm as the junk hit the litigation fan. In the past few
years, the reaction by a politicized patent office has been a sphincter of parsimony: not granting patents for deserved
inventions. Herein a case in point.
Continue reading "Junk Examination"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 5:32 PM | The Patent Office | Comments (105)
September 3, 2009
Healthy Assertion
Martek
and Lonza vend a health supplement made "by extracting lipids from fermented
microorganisms - specifically certain microalgae." Martek owns patents it
asserted against Lonza:
5,340,594;
5,698,244;
6,410,281; and
6,451,567. Some claims were found infringed in district court, and thereupon
the inevitable appeal. Lonza attacked priority date by way of parent enablement;
fought the finding of infringement via questionable testing; argued prior
invention with uncorroborated evidence; and tried to clobber the claim
construction using the file wrapper as a club. Meanwhile, Martek had its own
appeal query: what's an animal?
Continue reading "Healthy Assertion"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 7:25 PM | § 112 | Comments (5)
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