As we noted in our blog post last week, the USPTO held its “Chat with the Chief on SAS” webinar on April 30, 2018, to advise the public on the implications of the Supreme Court’s opinion in SAS Institute for practice before...more
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two important patent law opinions that relate to the inter partes review procedure introduced by the America Invents Act: Oil States Energy Servs., LLC v. Greene’s Energy Grp., LLC,...more
4/27/2018
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
America Invents Act ,
Article III ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Oil States Energy Services v Greene's Energy Group ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Public Rights Doctrine ,
SAS Institute Inc. v Iancu ,
SCOTUS ,
Seventh Amendment ,
USPTO
Letter from the Editors -
As Tolstoy once wrote, “Spring is the time of plans and projects.” Hopefully, the snows of winter are finally behind us, and it’s time to look forward, build, and create! We at Mintz Levin continue...more
On March 20, 2018, the public version of Eastern District of Texas Magistrate Judge Roy Payne’s March 7, 2018 order tossing a $75 million jury verdict obtained by Ericsson against TCL Communication was released. Ericsson...more
4/2/2018
/ Ericsson ,
Expert Testimony ,
IP License ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Royalties ,
Patents ,
Royalties ,
Smartphones ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Willful Infringement
Artificial intelligence (AI) — the science of teaching a machine how to “think” — has its roots in the 1950s. But until recently, it was considered a niche that was reserved for academics and government-sponsored research...more
Speed is almost always of the essence for the victim of trade secret misappropriation. Many companies ground their business in proprietary information that, if made public, would make the exclusive product or service those...more
1/31/2018
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Estoppel ,
Expedited Discovery ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Misappropriation ,
Patents ,
Section 337 ,
Trade Secrets ,
UTSA
We first covered the Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in Oil States Energy Servs., LLC v. Greene’s Energy Grp., LLC, 137 S. Ct. 2239 (2017), a case with the potential to substantially alter the patent litigation landscape,...more
12/8/2017
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Article III ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Oil States Energy Services v Greene's Energy Group ,
Oral Argument ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Private Property ,
Public Property ,
SCOTUS ,
USPTO
In issuing its precedential decision earlier this month in Two-Way Media v. Comcast, the Federal Circuit affirmed a Delaware district court determination that four data streaming patents were directed to ineligible subject...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Aqua Products Inc., v. Matal materially changes the burden of proof associated with the patentability of amended claims during an inter partes...more
The public version of ALJ Shaw’s Initial Determination (ID) in U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) investigation Certain Magnetic Data Storage Tapes and Cartridges Containing the Same, Inv. No. 337-TA-1012 (1012...more
10/7/2017
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Breach of Contract ,
Burden of Proof ,
Forum Selection ,
FRAND ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
IP License ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Sony ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Standard Setting Organizations ,
Waivers
Last week, the Federal Circuit held computer memory system patent claims not abstract and thus patent-eligible under Section 101, reversing a lower court dismissal of the case under Rule 12(b)(6). Visual Memory LLC v. NVIDIA...more
In a first of its kind decision with important ramifications for patentees, the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”) denied a petition to suspend or temporarily rescind remedial orders issued in Investigation No....more
7/28/2017
/ Appeals ,
Cisco ,
Exclusion Orders ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
USPTO
In a move that could drastically change the patent law landscape, the United States Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in Oil States Energy Services LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group LLC, No. 16-712, to answer the question...more
6/24/2017
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Article III ,
CAFC ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Covered Business Method Proceedings ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Oil States Energy Services v Greene's Energy Group ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Private Property ,
Public Property ,
Right to a Jury ,
SCOTUS ,
Separation of Powers ,
Seventh Amendment ,
USPTO
Happy spring! This issue includes two articles that challenge conventional thinking. The first, called “Software is Still Patent Eligible,” makes the case that software patents can still be obtained. IP generally accretes in...more
In recent years, software patents have come under fire from legislation (the American Invents Act) that has generally made patents easier to invalidate, and from court decisions (the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice v. CLS...more
Over the course of the past year, there have been two notable decisions issued by the Federal Circuit and the International Trade Commission that impact the scope and nature of the remedies available for the infringement of...more
On December 28, 2016, the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) issued a steep fine (“KFTC Ruling”) against Qualcomm for antitrust violations in patent licensing and modem chip sales – a record penalty that the U.S. company...more
When the Patent Trial and Appeal Board issues a final written decision finding against an IPR Petitioner, can that Petitioner necessarily appeal that adverse decision? In a case of first impression, the Federal Circuit...more
Earlier this week, Intellectual Ventures (IV) petitioned the full Federal Circuit to review the panel opinion in Intellectual Ventures v. Symantec, which invalidated two of its patents under section 101. Both patents—the...more
The Federal Circuit relied on Nautilus to preserve functional language of a method claim in a decision published last Friday. In Cox Comm, Inc. v. Sprint, No. 2016-1013, the Federal Circuit held that the term “processing...more
Two years after the Central District of California invalidated two 3-D animation patents under Section 101, the Federal Circuit reversed that court’s decision, finding that the lower court oversimplified the claims of a...more
Several months ago, we were struck with the question of whether, as counsel for a patent owner at the ITC, our clients’ case would benefit from a Markman hearing. Claim construction during an ITC investigation was routinely...more
This past Thursday the Brexit vote sent shockwaves around world, including the IP community and in particular with respect to IP rights in the UK and Europe. But concerns at the moment are speculative as nothing yet has...more
6/28/2016
/ Community Designs ,
Copyright ,
EU ,
European Union Trade Mark (EUTM) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patents ,
Referendums ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unitary Patent
The Supreme Court has made it easier for patent owners to prove willful infringement and entitlement to enhanced damages. In a unanimous opinion issued yesterday in a pair of cases decided together, Halo Electronics, Inc. v....more
6/15/2016
/ 35 U.S.C. § 284 ,
Abuse of Discretion ,
Enhanced Damages ,
Halo v Pulse ,
Judicial Discretion ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Preponderance of the Evidence ,
SCOTUS ,
Seagate ,
Standard of Proof ,
Standard of Review ,
Stryker v Zimmer ,
Willful Infringement
On Thursday, September 17, 2015, in the fourth Federal Circuit opinion arising out of the patent skirmishes between global high technology titans Apple and Samsung Electronics, a sharply divided Federal Circuit panel vacated...more
10/5/2015
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Apple ,
Apple v Samsung ,
Article III ,
eBay Test ,
Injunctive Relief ,
iPhone ,
Irreparable Harm ,
Nexus ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Public Interest ,
Samsung ,
Standing ,
Vacated