Patent Law Practice Center

Commissioner for Patents Robert Stoll Speaks at DLA Piper

Our friends at DLA Piper sent in this article discussing Commissioner for Patents Robert Stoll’s recent briefing on USPTO initiatives that took place  in DLA Piper’s  San Francisco Office.

At a recent lunch briefing in DLA Piper’s San Francisco office, Robert Stoll, Commissioner for Patents at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, addressed a group of IP lawyers regarding key initiatives to improve the USPTO’s efficiency and productivity.

Commissioner Stoll began by discussing the proposed America Invents Act, formerly the Patent Reform Act of 2011. A key provision, he explained, is a shift from the present “first-to-invent” regime to a “first-to-file” system which creates more certainty and helps all inventors, including the small inventor, while placing the USPTO in the same legal structure as other IP offices. He believes this change is an important step in creating global harmony in patent law, which he described as the least harmonized of the world’s intellectual property laws. Applicants will benefit from a streamlined application process when one standard is applied in all offices. This increases their global competitiveness and the strength of their patents. (more…)

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)

Patent Damages: Harmonizing Recent Judicial Developments With the Georgia-Pacific Factors

Patent Damages law is rapidly evolving with the recent Federal Circuit decisions on the issue and the statutory changes under serious consideration.

In an informative two hour program entitled “Patent Damages in Flux?:  Harmonizing Recent Federal Circuit Decisions With The Georgia-Pacific Factors 2010“,  Jennifer A. Sklenar of Howrey LLP, Jeffrey D. Sullivan of Baker Botts LLP and John M.  Griem, Jr. of Milbank delved into the Patent Damages issues including a review of the recent judicial developments and put them in context of the familiar Georgia-Pacific factors.  They also discussed the current state of potential statutory changes and how they might change patent damages litigation practices.

Jennifer A. Sklenar gave a very informative and detailed presentation of the recent Federal Circuit decisions on patent damages.  Specifically, she discussed Lucent Tech., Inc. v. Gateway, Inc., 580 F.3d 1301, i4i Ltd. Partnership v. Microsoft Corp., 598 F.3d 831, ResQNet.com, Inc. v. Lansa, Inc., 594 F.3d 860, and Wordtech Sys., Inc. v. Integrated Network Sol’n, Inc., 2010 WL 2384958 cases.   Slenar has been kind enough to share her slides, entitled “Recent Federal  Circuit Decisions on Patent Damages” with you here.

Jeffrey Sullivan then summarized what the trends seem to be in the damages cases.  He says that in recent years we’ve seen the Federal Circuit take up damages issues more frequently.  That the court has done so in two primary areas related to reasonable royalty calculations: (more…)