Steep Drop in Discretionary Denials — But Will It Last? The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) may be becoming more petitioner-friendly following a June 2022 memorandum that significantly narrows a precedent-setting...more
National Beverage Corporation, the maker of the popular LaCroix sparkling water products, failed to obtain Rule 11 sanctions against a consumer plaintiff, but ultimately scored a major victory recently, when the plaintiff not...more
No. Micro Processing Technology, Inc. sent a letter to Plasma-Therm alleging that Plasma-Therm was infringing MPT’s patent. Plasma-Therm filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration that it did not infringe....more
In a recent order, Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) Shaw denied Complainants’ Paice LLC and the Abell Foundation, Inc. (“Paice”) motion for evidentiary sanctions against Respondent Ford Motor Company (“Ford”) for allegedly...more
Caffeinate Labs, Inc. filed patent infringement and other unfair business practices claims against defendants Vante, Inc. and Alex Shlaferman. One claim alleged infringement of a design patent. The defendants moved to dismiss...more
Effective May 2, 2016, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has amended the existing consolidated set of rules of practice for trial proceedings before Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), including inter...more
On April 1, 2016 the USPTO published the final rules that make substantive changes to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) trial practice rules for inter partes review (IPR), covered business method (CBM), and post-grant...more
Addressing whether deterrence can play a role in an attorneys’ fee award under § 285, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that once a case is deemed exceptional, § 285 only authorizes an award of reasonable...more
28 U.S.C. § 1782: A Powerful Tool in Global Disputes - As the number and complexity of cross-border and multi-jurisdictional disputes increase, companies can use 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to obtain evidence from U.S.-based...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed an order sanctioning an attorney under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, holding that the district court abused its discretion in finding the attorney’s tactical...more
The PTAB issues its second round of proposed rule changes. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) just issued its second round of proposed rule changes to post-patent issuance review proceedings (Inter Partes Reviews,...more
On August 19, 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced another set of proposed changes to the rules governing Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) trial proceedings under the America Invents Act (AIA)....more
Patent owners can include expert testimony with a preliminary response. The Patent Office (Office) conducted a nationwide listening tour in April and May of 2014 to gauge the effectiveness of the rules governing...more
On August 19th, the USPTO released a new set of proposed rules related to post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Among the many offered rules was the addition of a “Rule 11-type certification”...more
On March 31 we posted about the Patent Office rolling out a series of rulemakings for improving post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) pursuant to public feedback to a Request for Comments...more
On August 19, 2015, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“Office”) presented proposed amendments to the rules governing trial practice for inter partes review, post-grant review, transitional post-grant review for...more
Today the USPTO released a 113-page set of proposed changes to AIA post-grant proceedings, including IPR, PGR and CBM proceedings. The USPTO has been attempting to address concerns expressed by the public, having implemented...more
SUPREME COURT CASES - U.S. Supreme Court Remands Case to Federal Circuit to Review Patent Under Teva - On April 20, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court remanded a case back to the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will be making a series of rule changes to America Invents Act reviews. Some will be effective immediately, others will be implemented in phases. The rule changes are a direct response to...more
Worldwide Home Products, Inc., v. Bed, Bath and Beyond, Inc., et al. Case Number: 1:11-cv-03633-MHD - Worldwide sued Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBB) for patent infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7938300 (“Nestable...more
Source Vagabond Sys. Ltd. v. Hydrapak, Inc. - Addressing the reasonableness of a pre-filing claim construction analysis in the context of Rule 11 sanctions, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a...more
Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California awarded more than $11 million in attorneys' fees and costs to three trade secret defendants, finding that plaintiffs who had raised a claim...more
[W]hen determining whether there was a Rule 11 violation, "the standard under which an attorney is measured is an objective, not subjective standard of reasonableness under the circumstances." [Thus, an evaluation of the...more