September 1, 2010
Fit To Be Tied
Raymond
E. Stauffer, esquire, hankers to look dapper, in idiosyncratic fashion,
preferring bow ties to the normal skinny bib known as a necktie. A man with
taste such as Stauffer's may sojourn to a classy clothier such as
Brooks Brothers. But in his
shopping excursion, Stauffer was bemused to find that bow ties he had purchased
were marked, with numbers of patents expired over 50 years ago (1955). Umbrage
drove Stauffer to the courthouse, where he sallied forth with "a qui tam
action under
35 U.S.C. § 292, alleging that Brooks Brothers had falsely marked its bow
ties."
Continue reading "Fit To Be Tied"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 8:10 PM | Standing | Comments (2)
May 28, 2010
Custom Casket
In
offering a license, Ablaise accused Dow Jones of infringing
6,961,737 &
6,295,530, claiming web page personalization. Dow Jones replied with a DJ.
Realizing that validity was in jeopardy, Ablaise offered a covenant not to sue
for '530 (not '737), which Dow Jones spurned, because Ablaise wouldn't extend
the covenant to Dows' parent, News Corporation. In the issue of continuing
subject matter jurisdiction, the district court waved the proffered covenant
away, and kept the railroad running. The district court found the asserted
claims obvious in light of Fishwrap, an MIT online newspaper,
5,675,507, a customizable fax viewer, and HTGrep, with optional views of
search results. The CAFC took Ablaise's covenant offer more seriously.
Continue reading "Custom Casket"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:19 PM | Standing | Comments (0)
May 23, 2010
Take The Gamble
Nevada
IP holding company Patent Rights sued "out-of-state gaming companies" on its
home turf, for infringing
6,475,087 and
6,860,814, which claim "casino-style gaming machines." The Nevada courts
dismissed the cases for lack of personal jurisdiction, and "denied Patent
Rights' request for jurisdictional discovery." Vacating and remanding, the CAFC
told the Nevada court to take it on. (CAFC
2009-1391,
precedential)
Posted by Patent Hawk at 3:45 PM | Standing | Comments (0)
May 14, 2010
Crafty Stand
The
labyrinth of possibilities makes patent
licensing a byzantine form of contract, particularly regarding standing. Case in
point. AMF licensed ear implant patents
5,609,616 and
5,938,691 to AB, while retaining certain rights, including the "secondary
right to sue to enforce the patents." AMF informed AB of its plan to sue
Cochlear. AB said "have at it." Cochlear learned of the licensing agreement
during discovery, and got the district court to dismiss the case for lack of
standing to sue. On appeal, the CAFC stood up for for AMF, which had drafted a
crafty license.
Continue reading "Crafty Stand"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:27 AM | Standing | Comments (0)
April 16, 2010
Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe
A
patent and/or its publication may be withheld indefinitely when deemed
"detrimental to the national security" under the Invention Secrecy Act,
35 U.S.C. § 181. An applicant/patentee may seek compensation for secrecy
withholding under
§ 183, beginning with "the date of first use by the Government." Alton B.
Hornback invented an improvement to missile guidance accuracy. The Air Force
liked his idea, and keep it secret from 1987 to 1999. Hornback finally got
6,079,666 in June 2000. He sought compensation.
Continue reading "Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 6:45 PM | Standing | Comments (2)
April 12, 2010
Located
Global
Locate took SiRF and others to the ITC to stop the defendants from importing
products infringing six of its GPS patents, which claim methods for improving
signal reception. Global Locate prevailed. The defendants appealed. At issue
were standing, infringement, and whether GPS-based methods were patentable
subject matter under the Bilski standard.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 10:10 PM | Standing | Comments (0)
December 10, 2009
Proviso Surgery
The
four-corners rule for contract law is straightforward. What is often not
straightforward is the clarity of contracts. Thus hinges the case of Tyco
Healthcare v. Ethicon Endo-Surgery. The upshot, in a contentious dispute
over patent assignment & license, was that Tyco lacked standing to sue, and so the case
was dismissed without prejudice. Ethicon wanted it dismissed with prejudice.
Continue reading "Proviso Surgery"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 7:37 PM | Standing | Comments (0)
October 1, 2009
The One That Got Away
Leland
Stanford Junior University and Cetus researched HIV in the late 1980s and early
1990s. Written "agreements provided Cetus with licenses to technology that
Stanford created as a result of access to Cetus's materials." In December 1991,
Roche bought the part of Cetus's business involved in that research [the PCR
division], and started making HIV detection kits. Stanford filed the parent to
the patents at issue in May 1992. In 2005, after getting multiple patents in the
family, Stanford sued Roche for infringement. Roche's winning counter-punch was
that Stanford lacked standing.
Continue reading "The One That Got Away"
Posted by Patent Hawk at 9:13 PM | Standing | Comments (0)
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 | Comments (0)
August 22, 2009
Standing
Sky
Technologies sued SAP over an e-trade patent portfolio it had acquired through a
foreclosure and associated contractual conniptions. Because litigation lawyers
argue almost anything regardless of merit, SAP pitched lack of standing and
lost, so it appealed, desperately trying to break the chain of title.
Posted by Patent Hawk at 12:46 PM | Standing | Comments (7)
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