Sketchbook

June 6th, 2014Supreme Court Chooses Middle Ground in Formulating A Standard for Patent Claim DefinitenessOn June 2, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Nautilus v. Biosig Instruments, Inc.  At issue…Read More

May 20th, 2014Supreme Court Limits Laches as a Defense in Copyright Infringement SuitsOn May 19, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., addressing the applicability of the…Read More

May 6th, 2014U.S. Supreme Court Changes Standards for Attorney Fee Awards in Patent CasesOn April 29, 2014, the Supreme Court issued decisions in Octane Fitness, LLC v. Icon Health & Fitness, Inc. and…Read More

March 26th, 2014Lexmark v. Static Control: Supreme Court Concludes That False Advertising Plaintiffs Need Not Be Direct CompetitorsOn March 25, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Lexmark Int’l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc.,…Read More

February 25th, 2014En Banc Federal Circuit Again Declines to Apply “Clearly Erroneous” Deference to Factual Findings in Patent Claim Construction RulingsOn February 21, 2014, the Federal Circuit issued its long-awaited decision in Lighting Ballast Control LLC v. Philips Electronics North…Read More

January 28th, 2014Supreme Court Rules That Licensor Has Burden of Proving Infringement Even When Licensee Is The PlaintiffOn January 22, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Medtronic, Inc. v. Mirowski Family Ventures, LLC.  Medtronic has…Read More

January 17th, 2014Federal Circuit Rules in the Exelixis / Novartis Cases that the USPTO Has Been Partially Miscalculating Patent Term AdjustmentIn 1994, Congress changed the way that a patent’s term is calculated.  At that time, the term of a patent…Read More

January 8th, 2014Fractus v Samsung – The Plot ThickensThe twists and turns in the Fractus / Samsung wars recently took another interesting turn.  As previously reported, in May…Read More

November 18th, 2013A New Spin on Fresenius – Fractus Uses Stay of Inter Partes Reexamination to Move Ahead in Race to Federal CircuitIn a decision that has more twists and turns than the Keystone Cops, the PTAB has granted a patent owner…Read More

June 25th, 2013U.S. Supreme Court Concludes That “Isolated” DNA Is Not Patent-Eligible But cDNA IsOn June 13, 2013, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., addressing…Read More

May 30th, 2013Bowman v. Monsanto: U.S. Supreme Court Addresses Patent Exhaustion In The Context of Self-Replicating TechnologiesOn May 13, 2013, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Bowman v. Monsanto. Monsanto is the owner of a…Read More

April 2nd, 2013U.S. Supreme Court Holds That Copyright Is Subject To International ExhaustionOn March 19, 2013, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. John…Read More

February 15th, 2013Guidelines for Navigating the First-to-File Provisions of the AIA Taking Effect On March 16, 2013The America Invents Act (AIA) that was passed in late 2011 contains a number of significant changes to the U.S.…Read More

September 19th, 2012The Federal Circuit Decides Akamai and McKesson Cases, Expanding Liability In Cases of Divided InfringementOn August 31, 2012, the Federal Circuit issued its long-awaited en banc opinion in the companion cases of Akamai Technologies,…Read More