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Rogue Outfit
In John Hopkins University v. Datascope, Judge Newman fingered the overbearing injudiciousness of the Court of Appeals panel in which she sat: There is no sufficient ground for this court's independent appellate trial of the factual issues that were...
Posted by Patent Hawk on October 2, 2008 3:41 PM | Case Law
Dead Cash Cow Still Milks
Astrazeneca sued Apotex and Impax for infringing patents of "pharmaceutical preparations containing omeprazole, the active ingredient in Prilosec." Filing ANDAs prompted the patent assertion. The patents expired, but that didn't moot the suit. Drug patent law provides an extra...
Posted by Patent Hawk on August 20, 2008 6:58 PM | Prior Art
Reactor
TubeMaster makes custom catalyst reactors. Cat Tech asserted 6,905,660. Tubemaster counterclaimed for declaratory judgment (DJ). The district court granted summary judgment of non-infringement based upon claim construction, including DJ on non-accused configurations. Cat Tech appealed. A CAFC panel crafted...
Posted by Patent Hawk on May 28, 2008 9:18 PM | Declaratory Judgment
Beaming Down
Finisar sued DirecTV in East Texas for infringing 5,404,505, garnering from a jury a $78.9 million reasonable royalty damages award for willful infringement. The district court tacked on $25 million while denying injunctive relief. On appeal, a claim construction...
Posted by Patent Hawk on April 20, 2008 12:31 AM | Prior Art
Presumed Valid
Microsoft and its counsel, including Theodore B. Olson, repeatedly employ deception in petitioning the Supreme Court to lower the burden of proof for invalidating patents, twisting SCOTUS' own words. As the Supreme Court observed, efforts by Microsoft and other...
Posted by Patent Hawk on April 4, 2008 1:11 PM | Prior Art
Apportion This
The Innovation Alliance sports a study by Prof. Paul Janicke that concludes: "There is no pattern of runaway jury verdicts in patent cases." What's more: "Despite what some argue, under our system of justice, judges do not simply "rubber...
Posted by Patent Hawk on February 13, 2008 5:14 PM | Damages
Rear View 2007
2007 was a raucous year for patents. The high courts and patent office shuffled the deck chairs like madmen. Patents sleazed and slimed in the hallowed halls of the whores of Congress. Business as usual as a few patents...
Posted by Patent Hawk on December 31, 2007 12:27 PM | The Patent System
Infringing Activation
Serial patent infringer Microsoft, who bitches mightily about having to pay patent "taxes," got nailed $115 million in damages, plus a $25 million kicker for doing it when they should have known better, and attorneys fees, for willfully infringing...
Posted by Patent Hawk on November 17, 2007 5:02 PM | Litigation
2006
Measured by complaints filed, patent litigation rose 2% year-to-year in 2006, continuing a long-term trend (following a dip in 2005), with litigation up 11% in the past five years....
Posted by Patent Hawk on January 1, 2007 12:53 PM | Patents In Business
The Microsoft Way
On Friday, Eastern District of Texas Judge Leonard Davis upped the ante by $25 million that Microsoft must pay for willfully infringing z4's product activation patents, as well as paying an additional $2 million towards z4 legal fees. The...
Posted by Patent Hawk on August 22, 2006 11:59 AM | Litigation
Irreparable Harm
In the months following the Supreme Court eBay v. MercExchange decision, recent rulings demonstrate a revised trend in granting injunctions, most notably recognizing marketplace clout. Granting a permanent injunction to TiVo against competitor EchoStar, though stayed for the time...
Posted by Patent Hawk on August 20, 2006 12:28 PM | Injunction
Becoming Less Obvious
This morning, the Supreme Court granted KSR's writ of certiorari in its appeal from infringing Teleflex's patents. At issue is whether prior art anticipation is obvious absent any suggestion or motivation to combine references. Many patented inventions are combinations...
Posted by Patent Hawk on June 26, 2006 7:44 PM | Prior Art
Principles of Equity
z4 Technologies won a jury award of damages against Microsoft ($115m) and Autodesk ($18m) for infringing software piracy patents 6,044,471 and 6,785,825. Microsoft's infringement was found willful. But the same Eastern District of Texas court has ruled (6:06-CV-142), in...
Posted by Patent Hawk on June 15, 2006 1:22 PM | Injunction
z4 Downs 2
David Colvin of Michigan-based z4, owner of software piracy patents 6,044,471 and 6,785,825, scored a preliminary $115 million dollar judgment against Microsoft, and an $18 million tab against Autodesk. It is shocking to think that an innocent waif like Microsoft...
Posted by Patent Hawk on April 19, 2006 7:56 PM | Litigation
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