In a significant development in the world of patent law, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently announced a crucial transformation in its operations. The agency’s news briefing in October 2023 shared that the Patent Center system is set to replace the EFS-Web system and the Private Patent Application Information Retrieval (Private PAIR) tool….
Recently, the Federal Circuit tested the weight of the question: “How would an ordinary engineer respond to this challenge?” And found that the reasonable expectation of success might not be quite so intimidating after all. This topic, as once might imagine, has generated considerable discussion among legal professionals. No, we are not referring to the…
Stakeholders who have grown used to having an additional ten days to respond to a communication from the European Patent Office (EPO) will very soon need to update their scheduling strategies. Documents dated on or after November 1, 2023, will bring about a significant change. The EPO is doing away with its “10-day rule”, which…
In almost five decades since its inception, the Panduit test, designed to determine lost profits in patent cases, has been both lauded for its consistency and criticized for its potential lack of flexibility. Recently, a notable legal decision in a patent case has sparked renewed interest in the relevance of the Panduit test’s application, thus…
In the latest episode of Troutman Pepper’s Intellectual Property and Health Sciences practice groups’ podcast series, the focus is on the US Patent Office (USPTO) and the conspicuous role the USPTO director has been assuming in inter partes and post-grant review proceedings. The meta description of the podcast indicates the presence of significant events and…
In the unfolding legal saga, In Re: Cellect, LLC No. 2022-1293 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 28, 2023), a crucial case illuminates an area of Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) and its interaction with the interesting issue of obviousness-type double patenting (ODP). This case has become critical for corporations and legal professionals specializing in Intellectual Property (IP). According…
In recent legal news, an important decision in the Eighth Circuit court has thrown light on the issue of conflict of interest during litigation representation. The court successfully upheld a previous lower court’s ruling which denied a law firm’s appeal to disqualify an expert witness in a suit. The suit had alleged that the law…
In a recent development in federal court, the case, Cyntec Company, Ltd. v. Chilisin Electronics Corp., Appeal No. 2022-1873 was reviewed by the Federal Circuit on October 16, 2023. The events of this week saw the Federal Circuit reverse and remand a California district court’s judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) which stated that…
In a notable decision, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has dismissed a patent owner’s claim that a coherence of activities hinting at an undercover plan was sufficient to conclude that a petitioner’s inter partes review (IPR) petition should be rejected as it failed to name a time-barred real party-in-interest (RPI). The surprising conclusion…
The Federal Circuit has been delving deeper into the realm of indefiniteness in Inter Partes Reviews (IPRs). A particular focus is on means-plus-function claim elements which present a complicated issue in an IPR as they are claim elements drafted under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) (or its predecessor paragraph 6), expressing an element of a combination as…
For nearly half a century, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office exercised authority that when a trademark registrant files a fraudulent declaration under Section 15 of the Lanham Act, in an effort to make its registration incontestable, that registration would be immediately cancelled in its entirety. This…
A recently published joint study by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) reveals the powerful role that intellectual property (IP) rights, particularly patents and trademarks, can play in securing crucial funding for startups. This study serves as a reminder to corporations and law firms alike on the importance…
In July, NetDocuments commenced a trial launch of its AI-based product, PatternBuilder MAX. This generative AI tool aspires to facilitate firms in creating customized AI automation that caters to their specific practice areas, offering a glimpse into the transformative potential of AI in streamlining operations for legal firms. This product was intended as the forebear…
In the race for AI patents, China has widened its lead over the United States, according to recent data published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). As per the data reviewed, Chinese institutions filed for a total of 29,853 AI-related patents in 2022. This represents an increase from the previous year’s 29,000 filings and…
On October 10, 2023, the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) set forth a consolidated decision in cases G1/22 and G2/22, which served to clarify a widely contested issue concerning the validity of a priority claim at the EPO. According to the ruling, an applicant claiming priority is endowed with the…
In a recent legal update, a federal judge in Maine rejected a motion to dismiss a patent infringement suit against Rejuva Fresh and its owner, Polly Jacobs. The case, initiated by BTL Industries Inc., concerns the allegedly unauthorised use of electromagnetic technology in noninvasive aesthetic body-contouring devices. The court found that a letter sent by…
The United Patent Court (UPC) Court of Appeal on 16th October 2023 declared their first-ever decision, addressing two noteworthy procedural issues that arise when a Statement of Claim is executed without the referred documents, or “annexes”. This landmark decision was announced by global law firm Allen & Overy LLP. The UPC Court of Appeal’s decision…
In a notable legal dispute in the District of Delaware, a ruling was made that validated a jury award based on lost profits in a two-product market for bamboo decking. This case underscores the potential nuances of calculating damages in markets consisting of merely a few players. In the absence of non-infringing alternatives, evidence may…
The legal battle between Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Nanocopoeia, LLC continues to garner industry attention. The case is formally known as Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Nanocopoeia, LLC, No. 22-cv-1283, 2023 WL 2867945 (D. Minn. Apr. 10, 2023) (Menendez, J.). This dispute involves the drug product Sprycel® (dasatinib) and two relevant U.S. patents – Nos. 7,491,725…
The significance of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) continues to ascend, proving their use and application in various fields, beyond just cryptocurrencies and financial markets. However, with this steady dawn of adoption and application, there is an emerging hotbed of patent disputes and intellectual property rights complexities. To delve into these issues, the city…
The Federal Circuit has took a pivotal step in safeguarding trademark registration rights by reversing and remanding a decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), as mentioned in a recent observation by JD Supra. In the case of Great Concepts, LLC v. Chutter, Inc., the Federal Circuit evaluated the TTAB decision that resulted…
In a pivotal ruling affecting many in the corporate legal sphere, the Federal Circuit has reaffirmed a verdict by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). This court case – Elekta Ltd. v. Zap Surgical Systems – has further clarified a crucial factor for patent cases involving the use of prior art references. According to…
In a recent development, a divided panel of the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision, reversing the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) cancellation of a registered trademark (Great Concepts, LLC v. Chutter, Inc., No. 2022-1212). Details of this case have revealed a pivotal judgement concerning the power of the Trademark Trial and Appeal…
Christopher L. Crumbley, a former lead administrative judge at the United States Patent & Trademark Office’s Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB), has recently taken a position at Bracewell, based out of their Austin, Texas location. Offering a wealth of patent law insight, Crumbley’s addition to the team was formally announced early this week. Armed…
Leigh M. Rothschild, an individual with more than 130 patents to his name, enjoys occupying a controversial space within the legal sphere. Having nuanced perspectives surrounding his persona, some regard him as among the most innovative inventors of his generation, while others label him a patent troll. A title of ‘patent troll’ is often given…