23 Nov 2016
As we all know, Donanld Trump is a master brander. We saw him at work during the campaign use his skill to effectively eliminate his competition during the primary season. His campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” may go down in history as one of the most effective slogans ever created. Many say that Trump...
28 Nov 2014
On September 26, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court’s findings that several patents asserted against Honda, were invalid as a result of inequitable conduct during prosecution. According to the Court’s findings, an eager inventor acted with intent to deceive the United States Patent and Trademark Office...
25 Aug 2014
Inter Partes Review The America Invent Act (AIA) brought new changes to the way the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) conducts review of patents challenged by third parties. Some of these changes include new rules to institute an inter partes review of a patent with a new standards for showing of sufficient grounds...
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...
20 Jan 2014
Last year, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in a trademark case that in essence had nothing to do with trademarks. The original battle at the lower court was over a line of shoes and trademark owned by Nike called Air Force 1s, which another company, Already, claimed was an invalid trademark. Already designs...
19 Dec 2013
Last week, on December 11, 2013, in Galderma Labs., L.P. v. Tolmar, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Newman, Bryson, Prost*) reversed the district court’s judgment that U.S. Patents No. 7,579,377, No. 7,737,181, No. 7,834,060, No. 7,838,558, and No. 7,868,044, (the Patents) were not invalid for obviousness under 35 U.S.C. §...
13 Dec 2013
Currently in patent infringement cases (including declaratory judgment cases), 35 U.S.C. section 285 reads, “the court in exceptional cases may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party” (emphasis added). As of December 5, 2013, House Representative Bob Goodlatte’s “Innovation Act,” among other changes, seeks to amend this fee shifting statute to have the non-prevailing...
11 Nov 2013
Innovative persons, groups, or businesses that believe they have a patent-worthy invention often submit a non-provisional patent application to the USPTO, typically through in-house or hired patent attorneys. After a hard-fought battle with a designated patent examiner, an applying party may be lucky enough to receive the hallowed “notice of allowance,” signifying the application’s acceptance...
7 Nov 2013
Patent practitioners refer to communications regarding a successfully filed patent application from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Office that require the patent applicant to respond as an “Office Action.” A successfully filed patent application is one that has received a filing date from the USPTO. Further, patent practitioners actually only refer to...
5 Nov 2013
When most people talk of patents and protecting their inventions they are implicitly talking about “utility patents,” which protect the way an invention works. However, there is an entirely different class of patent, the “design patent,” that United States patent law recognizes and that those seeking a patent should also consider. The Differences… First, the...
4 Nov 2013
When done correctly, broadening the claims allows a patent owner to broaden the scope of the patent in order to capture design-arounds or perhaps new products, which are not covered by the previous claims. While it is proper to broaden the scope of a patent under certain circumstances and procedures, the broadened claims must be...
28 Oct 2013
The Innovation Act of 2013, if passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by President Obama, could beget important and much-needed change for the patent litigation industry, especially as it pertains to so-called patent trolling. Patent trolling is a practice in which a group, typically a large corporation, procures an impressive portfolio of patents...