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May 31, 2011
Inducing
SEB
had commercial success with an electrical deep fryer that it patented:
4,995,312. Sunbeam asked Pentalpha, owned by Global-Tech Appliances, "to
supply Sunbeam with deep fryers meeting certain specifications. Pentalpha
purchased an SEB fryer that was made for sale in a foreign market and thus
lacked U. S. patent markings, copied all but the fryer's cosmetic features, and
retained an attorney to conduct a right-to-use study without telling him it had
copied directly from SEB's design. Failing to locate SEB's patent, the attorney
issued an opinion letter stating that Pentalpha's deep fryer did not infringe
any of the patents that he had found. Pentalpha then started selling its fryers
to Sunbeam, which resold them in this country under its own trademarks at a
price that undercut SEB's."
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:00 AM | Infringement
May 29, 2011
Injury
U.S.
justice is blind, but not necessarily in a good way. At root, garden-variety
judges are too easily bamboozled, led by the nose by bias, or simply muddle-headed
to begin with. Allergan makes and sells a patented vanity cosmetic drug
treatment, "to treat inadequate eyelash growth." Allergan sued competitors,
including Athena Cosmetics, for patent infringement, and unfair competition
under California law. Central California Judge James V. Selna dismissed the
unfair competition claim over standing, that Allergan had not been injured.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:01 AM | Standing
May 25, 2011
Deep Six to Rule 56
Therasense,
now Abbott, got into a patent battle involving
5,820,551 and similar patents claiming "disposable blood glucose test strips
for diabetes management." The ubiquitous allegation of inequitable conduct found
purchase, for failing to disclose in U.S. prosecution highly relevant
prosecution posturing in Europe.
Upheld on appeal.
Now, in a 6-5 en banc bungle that wipes away much history and seasoned
sense that demands accountability for prosecution weaseling, a new rigid rule
rules the roost, sending the '551 chicken back to the broiler of district court.
The irony is that the new rigid rule, in the name of tightening, actually
loosens the bonds obliging honesty. A CAFC majority seems unable to consider the
dynamics of consequence.
Continue reading "Deep Six to Rule 56"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:46 PM | Inequitable Conduct
May 23, 2011
Shorted
Semiconductor
chip design meister Tessera has paid many a college tuition for the kids of
patent litigators, as well as raking in boucoup in licensing. Today's episode
sizzles from the ITC complaint dating to the close of 2007 against 18 importers.
10 made it to appeal, but with Tessara appealing its bad chips: noninfringement
and patent exhaustion.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 11:13 PM | ITC
May 21, 2011
Spoliation
Rancid
Rambus set itself on a warpath footing, preparing for an enforcement campaign
against SDRAM makers for infringing its patent portfolio. Part of the
preparation was destroying tons of relevant documents in a series of
festive "shredding parties", the first in July 1998; only preserving potentially
helpful documents, such as those establishing priority date. The noise woke the
neighbors. In separate cases, Micron and Hynix beat Rambus to the courthouse,
filing declaratory judgment motions. What ensued over the spoliation issue came
to a head as a CAFC clusterus-coitus (a missing entry in Black's Law
Dictionary), with the will to justice displayed by a single CAFC judge, Gajarsa. To those in the know, no surprises here, only disappointment at
further disarray, at a CAFC that appears randomly dysfunctional in applying the
law.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 9:45 PM | Case Law
May 20, 2011
Packetized Standing
British
Telecommunications accused an Arris Group customer of infringing its VoIP
patents. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the reason that many phone calls
nowadays sound garbled, like you're talking through tin cans with wires
attached, only higher tech. Makes one yearn for the days when "you can hear a
pin drop" through your phone line. Positively Amish. But I digress. Then again,
so did this litigation. "Economic injury" doesn't justify a declaratory judgment
action, but "adverse legal interests" does. But then, one gets to "adverse legal
interests" by "economic injury."
Continue reading "Packetized Standing"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 2:06 PM | Declaratory Judgment
May 19, 2011
Going Blind
Allergan
sued Apotex and Exela for infringing
5,424,078 and related patents, claiming eye drops to treat glaucoma. The
litigations were prompted by the would-be infringers exposing their intentions
by filing ANDAs. The generic rascals were routed, failing to invalidate, and
failing to skirt infringement. Apotex appealed obviousness, and knocked down
'078 on appeal, but not its relations. Lousy lawyering comes to fore as
factoring in, as did, for Exela, clever counsel.
Continue reading "Going Blind"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 8:12 PM | Prior Art
May 17, 2011
Comfortably Numb
The
USPTO, a collective of numbskulls, feels no pain in ignoring facts and the law.
Endo Pharmaceuticals appealed three applications related to time-released
opioids. Agreeing with the examiner, the BPAI rejected all three as obvious. On
appeal, two went up in smoke, but the CAFC gave one a time-released reprieve.
Continue reading "Comfortably Numb"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 9:37 PM | Prior Art
May 10, 2011
Underdog
Gary Odom, aka
Patent Hawk, inventor/prosecutor/reluctant pro se litigator, sued
Microsoft for patent infringement. What a total debacle. Everything that could
go wrong did, from choice of counsel on out. In the finale at district court, Odom was railroaded pro se to summary
judgment of invalidity by a biased judge. Patent Hawk, patent validity expert,
had his own patent invalidated, by prosecution-cited prior art. And affirmed on appeal. Embarrassing? Yes, but
for who?
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:29 PM | Prior Art
May 3, 2011
Framed
6,034,423
claims a semiconductor chip package lead frame. But it didn't claim enough to
satisfy inventors Shahram Mostafazadeh and Joseph O. Smith, who framed
themselves into less patent coverage than they thought they deserved later. But
Mostafazadeh & Smith lacked the foresight to file a continuation before
issuance. So they resorted to a reissue, in an attempted chip chisel that
fizzled.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:22 PM | Reissue
Changing the Channel
Cornered
for patent infringement, Echostar dropped dime. Big-time dime: $500 million.
TiVo settled its suit against EchoStar/Dish Network for a $300 million gratuity
now, with another $200 million payable on an installment plan. EchoStar sighed
that it was "pleased to put this litigation behind us." TiVo CEO Tom Rogers was
ingracious and narcissistic: "The compensation from this settlement, including
the resulting reduction in legal expenditures, puts TiVo in an enviable
financial and strategic position." But what do you expect from someone in the
boob-tube business.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 6:33 PM | Patents In Business
May 2, 2011
Bled Dry
5,674,681
&
6,355,425 claim methods to identify hemochromatosis, a genetically vectored
blood iron disorder. Owner Billups-Rothenberg sued Associated Regional and
University Pathologists (ARUP) and Bio-Rad Laboratories for infringement. The
assertion was bled dry, by lack of written description to the invention claimed
in '681, and the later '425, not related to '681, anticipated by
6,025,130.
prior art search + 
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