Patent Law Practice Center

Toshiba Attack On Two Rovi V-Chip Patents Among Reexamination Requests Filed Week Of 3/7/11

Here is the latest installment of Reexamination Requests from Scott Daniels, of Reexamination Alert and Practice Center Contributor….

Late last year, Rovi sued Toshiba, alleging that it infringes two patents covering V-Chip technology, U.S. Patent Nos. 6,305,016 and 6,701,523.  Toshiba has now replied to that allegation by requesting reexamination of both Rovi patents (see ex parte Request Nos. (16) & (17)).

The winner for the most reexaminations requested was TiVo who filed requests against seven Microsoft TV programming patents (see ex parteRequest Nos. (3) to (9)).

Finally, Xilinx’s assault on Intellectual Venture patents continued last week with requests filed against IV’s U.S. Patent Nos. 6,993,669 and 6,408,415 (see inter partes Request No. (3) & ex parte Request No. (31)). Read the rest of this entry »

Patent Reform Takes A Big Step Forward As The Senate Passes The America Invents Act

Jeanne Gills, Partner at Foley & Lardner and Practice Center Contributor, along with colleagues Courtenay C. Brinckerhoff and Liane M. Peterson, sent in this alert highlighting the key provisions of The America Invents Act.

On March 8, 2011, U.S. patent reform moved one step closer towards becoming a reality when the Senate passed the America Invents Act (S. 23) in a bipartisan, 95-5 vote. The bill includes some modification to the “first-to-file system” and removes the damages and venue provisions that were present in earlier versions of the bill.

Now the House of Representatives will have to craft its own version of patent reform, which is expected to have at least some differences vis-à-vis the Senate bill. If and when the House approves its patent reform bill, House and Senate leadership will have to reach a compromise. Although the House is expected to vote in support of a compromise bill, final passage could be blocked by a late-stage “hold” in the Senate. Thus, patent reform likely still has a long road ahead. Read the rest of this entry »

Whirlpool Challenge To Three LG Refrigerator Patents Among The Reexamination Requests Filed Week Of 2/28/11

Here is the latest installment of Reexamination Requests from Scott Daniels, of Reexamination Alert and Practice Center Contributor….

Last year LG Electronics sued Whirlpool for selling refrigerators that infringe a series of LG patents.  Whirlpool has now replied by requesting reexamination of those patents (see inter partes Request Nos. (4), (5) & (6)).  Whirlpool has previously requested reexamination of at least four other LG refrigerator patents.  LG and Whirlpool have been in series patent infringement fights, including an ITC investigation.

There were also reexaminations requested by Google against two of the Oracle America patents in the JAVA infringement suit between the companies (see inter partes Request No. (3) and ex parte Request No. (9)).  A request was filed against another of the Intellectual Venturespatents from its case against Altera and other companies, probably by Xilinx, though the identity of the requester does appear in PAIR (see ex parte Request No. (22)).  Finally, a request was filed regarding one of the Ronald Katz telephone patents (see ex parte Request No. (3)). Read the rest of this entry »

Patent Reform Update: Yays and Nays to Senate Passing America Invents Act

On Tuesday, the Senate voted 95-5 to pass the America Invents Act aka the Patent Reform Act.  According to the three main sponsors of the bill, senators Pat Leahy (D-VT), Charles Grassley (R-IA), and Jon Kyl (R-AZ), the main objective of this legislation is to eliminate the backlog of unexamined patents. Whether the amended S. 23 bill will accomplish that goal remains to be seen.  Will the House approve patent reform, either along the lines of the amended S.23 or something close to it is also questionable?  Here is what the blogosphere has to say about the America Invents Act and whether or not the House is likely to approve patent reform….

1.  Senate Passes Patent Overhaul In 95-5 Vote (Law 360)

2.   Senate Passes Bill to Change Patent System and Pricing (New York Times)

3.  Patent Reform Passed in Senate: House Likely to Introduce Bill this Month (PatentlyO)

4.  Leahy patent bill: Litigation, not innovation (via The Hill)

5.  Patent Reform Act clears the Senate (The Hill)

6.  Patent Reform Likely to Benefit Industry Giants More Than Start-Ups (GEN)

7.  Pharma and bio sectors applaud US patent reform (PharmaTimes)

New FTC Report Suggests Improved Alignment of Patent System With Competition Policy

Earlier this week, the FTC published an extensive report recommending ways to improve patent law policies.  The report emphasizes that the patent system and competition policy share the goal of promoting innovation that benefits consumers and explores ways to achieve greater alignment between the two.  Our friends at Foley & Lardner sent in this alert highlighting the key points of the report.

On March 7, 2011, the FTC released a 300-page report, The Evolving IP Marketplace: Aligning Patent Notice And Remedies With Competition. The Report assesses the patent system’s benefits and challenges as more companies shift to “open innovation” and increasingly rely on technology transfers to adopt inventions created outside their own R&D efforts. The FTC continues its engagement regarding the patent system that began with its 2003 Report, To Promote Innovation: The Proper Balance of Competition and Patent Law and Policy, and continued with its 2007 Report, Antitrust Enforcement and Intellectual Property Rights: Promoting Innovation and Competition. The 2011 Report aims to better align the patent laws with competition policy by recommending improvements to two areas of patent law policies, namely how well a patent gives notice to the public of what technology is protected, and the remedies available for patent infringement.

Improving The Read the rest of this entry »