Patent & IP news for March 16, 2011

Damsel in distress and loss of Facebook from ipkitten.blogspot.com

The IPKat, being an inherently gallant Kat, is always moved by entreaties from damsels in distress. One such damsel has emailed him in some anxiety, seeking his advice. She writes:

"My client's business Facebook ...

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False Marking: A Temporary Flash in the Pan from www.patentlyo.com

There are several reasons why the onslaught of false marking litigation should be seen as merely a temporary flash in the pan. Business Practices: For the past several decades, manufacturers and retailers had become lax ...

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Patent costs under the microscope again from ipfinance.blogspot.com

Thanks to a Tweet from Axel Horns I discovered this link to an invitation from the European Commission to tender for yet another patent-focused research project: "Patent costs and impact on innovation: international comparison ...

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Article One Featured Researcher: Genius from info.articleonepartners.com

This week, Article One interviewed Researcher Genius, a native of Bhopal, India. Discovering us by surfing the web, she started her patent research with Article One – and was quite a quick learner! Since mid-2010, she ...

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Wednesday whimsies from ipkitten.blogspot.com

"Future Plans". The impending seminar organised for MARQUES by its Class 46 weblog on the notorious Max Planck Study commissioned by the European Commission is turning into a triumph for marketing via the social media ...

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Inventor's Interests, If Not Rights, Limited by S. 23 from www.patentdocs.org

By Kevin E. Noonan -- The "America Invents Act" (S. 23; aka the patent reform bill) makes significant changes in the power of an assignee, or someone who has obligated an inventor to assign, to file ...

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Biotech/Pharma Docket from www.patentdocs.org

By James DeGiulio -- Watson Invalidates Cephalon's Fentora Patents Watson Pharmaceuticals won a substantial victory in its lawsuit with Cephalon over Fentora when the generic drugmaker successfully established that two of three asserted patents covering ...

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Shortened Parliament Session and IP Bills from spicyipindia.blogspot.com

ET carried a short edit today on the impact that a shortened budget session of Parliament might have on pending bills. Apparently, given state elections in the coming months, the government (as also other political ...

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Crowdsourcing as IP-strategy from intangitopia.blogspot.com

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How to support Japan relief efforts from ipelton.wordpress.com

Last week’s earthquake and tsunami disaster caused immense loss and damage. You can help by donating to the relief efforts of these organizations: American Red Cross (A special non-registered trademark with special protection in ...

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Cargill's sweeteners: HIS and non-congruent flavor volatiles from ipbiz.blogspot.com

On March 16, Reuters is running a story Cargill to patent new low-cal drink technology which does not actually mention the patent applications of Cargill.

US 20110059218, published on March 10, 2011, is titled SWEETENER ...

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Gilead sues Natco under Hatch-Waxman over Tamiflu in D. Delaware from ipbiz.blogspot.com

The Bloomberg story notes:

“This action arises because of Natco’s efforts to gain approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market generic copies” while claiming the Gilead patent isn’t valid ...

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Gametime IP bashes Masnick/TechDirt from ipbiz.blogspot.com

In a post titled Innovation Is Either Bought Or Stolen , GameTime IP takes on Mike Masnick of Techdirt.

The post might have better been titled Invention is Either Bought or Stolen.

From a previous IPBiz ...

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Annual Capital Expenditures Survey and treatment of intangible capital from www.athenaalliance.org

I recently received a notice that the 2009 Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES) is now available. This is a great data source on investments in building and equipment. But a quick look at what is ...

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The Pruning Of Moral Rights in America: Does the Right Subsist in a Garden? from www.iposgoode.ca

Leslie Chong is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Chapman Kelley v. Chicago Park District is a recent decision rendered in the United States Court of Appeals (Seventh Circuit) that questioned the extent ...

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Google and search engine patents from britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk

Numerous patent specifications have been published in the name of Google covering search engines. An early important one was of course their Node ranking in a linked database, filed in 1997 and by...

(From Steve ...

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Open justice and access to documents: can the Patents Court lead the way? from patlit.blogspot.com

A tangential consequence of the discussion of expert evidence in most recent PCC Page is the sparking off of some interesting and highly constructive thoughts from a patent litigator who reads this blog, as to ...

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Stem Cell Patent Shot Down In Europe from tacticalip.com

by Aaron Thalwitzer The European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) today issued a preliminary opinion holding that procedures involving established human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines are not patentable. The stem-cell researcher in question is straight ...

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US IP Enforcement Ambitions In Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement Stir Reactions from www.ip-watch.org

An alleged official document leaked last week showed that the United States is taking the lead in escalating intellectual property rights enforcement in negotiations for a regional trade agreement among countries bordering the Pacific Ocean ...

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Attorney Fees Under Section 285 from gordononpatentcases.blogspot.com

OLD RELIABLE WHOLESALE, INC. V. CORNELL CORP.

• “Absent misconduct in conduct of the litigation or in securing the patent, sanctions may be imposed against the patentee only if both (1) the litigation is brought in ...

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Samuelson & Schultz: What business methods are patentable after Bilski? from writtendescription.blogspot.com

The final paper presented at Stanford's Bilski Symposium was "Clues" for Determining Whether Business and Service Innovations Are Unpatentable Abstract Ideas by Pamela Samuelson and Jason Schultz, both of Berkeley Law (though this paper ...

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GeoTag Inc. proves incorrigible, sues Walmart and 25 other companies from fosspatents.blogspot.com

I have an update on GeoTag, Inc., the patent holding entity that sued 397 companies last year for the alleged infringement of a location-tagging patent and was jointly sued by Google and Microsoft. Two new ...

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Impressions from SXSW from www.uspto.gov

I had the great pleasure of being in Austin, Texas last weekend for something new and special—not only for me but for the USPTO. The SXSW (South by Southwest) Interactive Conference has been a ...

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Union Opposition To Patent Reform Legislation Funded By Intellectual Ventures from gametimeip.com

Pat Choate, noted political economist, filed a breach of contract lawsuit earlier this week against Intellectual Ventures, a patent aggregator, owner of approximately 30,000 patents, and plaintiff in numerous patent infringement lawsuits.  According to ...

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Trade-Off: Privacy and Facebook Application from www.iposgoode.ca

Ivy Tsui is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Facebook is moving forward with its plan to allow third-party developers and external websites to access users’ home address and phone numbers despite widespread ...

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Finland to Join London Agreement, Relaxing Patent Translations from info.inovia.com

On March 8, 2011, Finland announced that it will join the London Agreement, bringing the total number of member EPC countries to 17.  Previously, validation of a granted European patent into Finland required translating the ...

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White House Recommends Increased Criminal Penalties for Intellectual Property Crimes from www.patentlyo.com

The White House today released a white paper on its recommendations for intellectual property enforcement legislation. The recommendations all involve increasing rights and increasing penalties "so as to more effectively address the substantial harm caused ...

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N.D. Ohio District Court Reaffirms Decision Finding False Marking Statute Unconstitutional from www.grayonclaims.com

Unique Product Solutions, Ltd. v. Hy-Grade Valve, Inc. (N.D. Ohio Mar. 14, 2011)

As previously reported, the Northern District of Ohio recently held that the false marking statute is unconstitutional as violating the Take ...

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Things they don’t teach you in law school . . . from www.717madisonplace.com

Demonstrating gloves can be tricky business during oral argument.  In response to a question from Judge Moore, one appellant was recently demonstrating how language describing the “proximal A2 pulley region” of a finger should be ...

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The Role of Consumer Surveys in Proving Patent Infringement Damages from www.infringementupdates.com

The following is excerpted from a March 15, 2011 article by Chris Larus of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. published at Inside Counsel: The Federal Circuit has increased its scrutiny of damage awards ...

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Secretary Locke Leaving Commerce Dept.? from 271patent.blogspot.com

Press reports indicate that Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is expected to become the next US ambassador to China, taking over for Jon Huntsman.  In a March 9 press release, President Obama stated

In replacing Ambassador ...

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How Can I Ensure A Competitor’s Trademark Application is Denied? from patents101.com

In many instances, you may want a competitor or potential competitor’s application for a trademark registration to be refused by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). However, trademark examinations are ex parte- ...

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