IP News Alerts
Defend Trade Secrets Act Expands Intellectual Property Protection
May 18, 2016
By: Timothy J. Meagher, Brian T. Moriarty, and Joshua S. Matloff
DTSA creates the first federal civil cause of action for trade secret owners to take in the case of misappropriation. DTSA sets a national baseline for trade secret protection...
Disparagement Provision in Lanham Act Found Unconstitutional
December 23, 2015
Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act bars the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from registering scandalous, immoral, or disparaging marks. 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a). According...
Supreme Court Eliminates "Good Faith Belief" of Patent Invalidity as Defense to Induced Patent Infringement
May 26, 2015
Today, in a 5-3 decision, the United States Supreme Court, Commil USA LLC v Cisco Systems, Inc., issued an important opinion that eliminates good faith belief of patent invalidity...
International Design Patent Applications Will Be Available to U.S. Applicants
February 19, 2015
By: Darrell L. Wong
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced significant changes to rules applicable to international design patents and extended the patent term for some design patents....
Lessons Learned from the First IPR Decision by the Federal Circuit - Patent Office Successfully Takes Over Garmin's Attack on Cuozzo's Patent
February 11, 2015
Garmin successfully used an Inter Partes Review ("IPR") counterattack when it was sued for patent infringement and, once Garmin settled with the patent owner, the Patent...
Supreme Court Determines Trademark Tacking is Jury Issue - Reconfirms Markman Claim Construction is for the Judge
January 29, 2015
By: Susan G. L. Glovsky and John L. DuPré
The trademark doctrine of "tacking" allows a trademark owner to gain superior rights based on earlier use of another mark that "create[s] the same, continuing commercial...
Supreme Court Orders Deference to Factual Findings for Claim Construction
January 28, 2015
On Tuesday, January 20, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its much-anticipated decision in Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. v. Sandoz Inc. The Court’s 7-2 decision overturned...
Federal Circuit to Reconsider 15-Year Claim Construction Position: Patent Holders and Their Counsel on Watch
April 8, 2013
Claim construction (i.e., the determination of the meaning and scope of claims) is a major part of patent infringement litigation proceedings and can make or break a party’s...
Interactions with Your Customer Can Be the Basis for Liability for Patent Infringement
March 21, 2013
The relationship between a company and its customer is usually not enough to establish liability for direct patent infringement, but it can create liability for induced patent infringement...
New Micro Entity Patent Applicants will Benefit from a Seventy-Five Percent Discount on Fees
March 13, 2013
The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) grants fee-setting authority to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and effective March 19, 2013, the USPTO will adjust...
Colombia and Mexico Enter the Madrid Protocol for the International Registration of Marks
February 13, 2013
By: John L. DuPré and Christopher K. Albert
Colombia and Mexico have recently signed on to an international trademark treaty that makes filing for trademark protection in those countries easier and less expensive. Since April...
After Cybersource - Software Inventions Still Patentable - Precise Claim Wording Ever More Crucial
August 2011
Patent claims that recite a “computer readable medium … containing program instructions for a computer to perform” a sequence of steps have become a popular way...