Supreme Court Agrees To Tackle Drug Patent Settlements
In the past several years, the Second, Eleventh, and Federal Circuits have upheld these settlements (known as “reverse payment” agreements since the money flows from the patentee to the alleged...
View ArticleThe Role of Territoriality in Patent Exhaustion
Patent exhaustion is one of the most fundamental restrictions on patent rights. Under this doctrine, an authorized sale of a patented article moves it outside the scope of the U.S. patent monopoly....
View ArticleNike v. YUMS: Covenant Not to Sue Prevents Jurisdiction
The Court went to the actual terms of the Covenant to determine if Nike had met this very tough burden burden. In this case, though, Nike did. The terms of the Covenant were unconditional and...
View ArticleRefocusing Kirtsaeng Analysis on Extra-Territoriality Principles
The parties and amici have filed over 25 briefs in this case, almost none of which address or even consider whether the actual right granted under Section 109(a)—to “sell or otherwise dispose of”...
View ArticlePlanting Progeny Seeds Without Consent is Patent Infringement
In its amicus brief, CLI responds by arguing that the term “makes,” as used in Section 271(a), has its plain and ordinary meaning, which embraces the concepts of “bringing about” or “causing.” CLI...
View ArticleArgument Summary: Supreme Court Hears Bowman v. Monsanto
While one can never know for certain how the Supreme Court will rule, even a casual observer has to conclude that the Supreme Court seems poised rule in favor of Monsanto. Seconds after Bowman's...
View ArticleForward Looking Personalized Medicine, Patent Law and Science
Social policy concerns have influenced the AMP v Myriad debate. The Supreme Court, to the extent it must make a ruling for our times, informed by societal context, should dispassionately consider all...
View ArticleSupreme Court Hears Myriad Gene Patent Challenge
If cDNA is patent eligible subject matter, as it seems likely based on the tone of the oral argument, that should be very good news for Myriad. As Justice Breyer recognized during questioning of Mr....
View ArticleBio-Pharma at the U.S. Supreme Court
Since my last article here on IPWatchdog.com, the pharmaceutical industry has been simply overflowing with interesting developments, including the US Supreme Court hearing arguments concerning three...
View ArticleSowing the seeds of wrath: Doctrine of Patent Exhaustion Could Not Save...
Some had hoped that the Court would use Bowman as an opportunity to address the extent of a patent owner’s monopoly over other self-replicating technologies in the areas of biotechnology and...
View ArticleSupreme Court Will Examine Patent Licensee’s Burden of Proof for Declaratory...
The Supreme Court on May 20, 2013, agreed to review a Federal Circuit decision that a patent licensee bears the burden of proof in its action for a declaratory judgment of noninfringement where the...
View ArticleDNA patenting: There’s still hope (maybe)
The baffling aspect of the opinion is that the Court seems to agree that both the DNA of claim 1 and the DNA of claim 2 are man-made and do not occur in nature. Of claim 1, the Court states that...
View ArticleWhy SCOTUS Myriad Ruling Overrules Chakrabarty
The Supreme Court quite directly contradicts the reasoning of Chakrabarty in Myriad. Thomas explains that it is a fact that isolated DNA is nonnaturally occurring, but still nevertheless not patent...
View ArticlePatent Turmoil: Navigating the Software Patent Quagmire
Despite the turmoil surround software patent eligibility I believe with great certainty that software will remain patent eligible in the United States. The extreme decisions of the PTAB and viewpoints...
View ArticlePrelude to SCOTUS Oral Arguments in Alice v. CLS Bank, Part 2
BEAR: ''[T]here’s an amusing little brief worth visiting. It’s by a number of companies including LinkedIn, Netflix, Twitter, Yelp and Rackspace – whom I respect and appreciate as innovators – and...
View ArticlePrelude to SCOTUS Oral Arguments in Alice v. CLS Bank, Part 3
BEAR: ''When the Constitution was written, there was no concept of software. Nor was there computer hardware. We had physical, you know, very physical mechanical inventions. And computers have come...
View ArticleMissed Opportunities for Alice, Software at the Supreme Court
It seems undeniable that Alice missed many opportunities to score easy points. Indirect arguments were made by Alice that didn't seem very persuasive. Indeed, if one is to predict the outcome of the...
View ArticleInfringement of Method Claim Shouldn’t Require a Single Entity
AIPLA believes that the so-called “single entity” rule for deciding method claim infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(a), where multiple actors perform the claim steps, as set out in recent Federal...
View ArticleThe “Useful Arts” in the Modern Era: For SCOTUS on CLS Bank
Many, many, many patents have issued to cover the physical elements and intuitive steps to make this familiar sequence possible and increasingly reliable and refined. Mechanical elements, i.e.,...
View ArticleSupremes Say Broad Discretion to District Courts to Award Attorneys Fees
35 U.S.C. § 285, which is an extremely short statute, authorizes a district court to award attorney’s fees in patent litigation to the prevailing party. In its totality, § 285 states: “[t]he court in...
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