15 Aug 2014
I/P Engine brought a patent infringement lawsuit against Google and several other defendants for infringing on several of its patents. The patents at issue relate to a method for filtering Internet search results. The patents’ main operational features determine the relevance of an Internet search by, for example, extracting text from a web page (known...
15 Aug 2014
On August 15, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in I/P Engine, Inc. v. AOL, Inc. et al, reversed a lower court’s decision granting I/P Engine, Inc. an award for over $30 million in damages against Google, AOL, and Target for patent infringement. The Appeals Court’s reversal was based on...
15 Aug 2014
In business discourse, particularly in California, one may hear the terms S Corp, C Corp, and Close Corp thrown around, sometimes interchangeably. However, each of these terms has a distinct meaning. This article seeks to explain each term and their implications to a California business. What is a corporation? A corporation is a fictional legal...
12 Aug 2014
USING TRADEMARKS TO PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS As mentioned in an earlier post, a trademark is a recognizable symbol, figure, slogan, or mark that is used by manufacturers or entrepreneurs to distinguish their product from competitor’s products. Trademark protection ensures that only the owner of the mark can use the trademark with the designated goods or...
12 Aug 2014
Entrepreneurs and independent inventors benefit from doing their own research and learning about the patent process before seeking guidance from a patent attorney. While a patent attorney should always be consulted prior to filing a patent application, there are several steps that can be taken by individuals before investing in the often expensive procurement process...
11 Aug 2014
Filing a Utility Patent Application Generally, the government will grant you a utility patent when you can show that you have developed something new, useful, and non-obvious. The standard for showing something new is pretty straight forward- that is, that the exact idea has not been developed before. Thus, if you have a new device,...
11 Aug 2014
What Intellectual Property Protection Makes Sense for your Business or Venture? When businesses, entrepreneurs, or individual inventors approach us with their ideas, the first question we seek to answer is whether the idea is one that can be protected. Protection may best be served by procurement of one or more patents, trademarks, or copyrights. Additionally,...
8 Aug 2014
In 2005, a pharmaceutical corporation named ScriptPro obtained a patent on a device relating to an automated prescription container dispensing system that automatically fills and labels pill bottles. See Scriptpro, LLC v. Innovation Associates, Inc., 2013-1561, 2014 WL 3844192, at * 1 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 6, 2014); COLLATING UNIT FOR USE WITH A CONTROL CENTER...
8 Aug 2014
In addressing whether a competitor’s patent infringement suit and filing of a Citizen Petition with the Federal Drug Administration can result in the violation of antitrust laws, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s finding that the patentee’s assertion of the validity of its patents was a sham. The court...
8 Aug 2014
On August 6, 2014, the Court of Appeal for the State of California in Santa Ana certified for publication its earlier opinion affirming the ruling of judge Steven Perk of Orange County Superior Court. Reblledo v. Tilly’s Inc., G048624, Aug. 6, 2014. The court held that express terms in an employment arbitration agreement excluding “matters...
8 Aug 2014
In Amdocs Ltd. v. Openet Telecom, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2014) the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently reversed the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in a case between competitors in the so called data mediation software industry. The case involves Amdocs Israel Limited (Amdocs), which sued Openet Telecom,...
6 Jun 2014
Generally, business owners who own and operate a business in California as a sole proprietorship or general partnership, may be considering establishing a more formal business entity, such as a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, or some other entity. Such owners initially ask themselves where, i.e. in which state should I create this legal entity? ...