Patent Law Practice Center

Top 5 Patent Law Blog Posts of the Week

Today we continue our weekly installment highlighting the best of the patent blogosphere from the past week. If there are any patent blogs you think should be highlighted by our Top 5, please comment on this post and we’ll check them out!

1) IPWatchdog: Patent Filings Up Worldwide, Outpacing GDP Growth – This post discusses the new report published by WIPO that shows intellectual property filings worldwide rebounded strongly in 2010 after a considerable decline in 2009; actually, the recovery in IP filings was stronger than the overall economic recovery. The post provides growth statistics from filings all over the world, and then considers whether this increased inventive activity is sustainable in light of the overwhelming backlogs faced by Patent Offices around the world.

2) Green Patent Blog: USPTO Green Tech Pilot Program Begins Final Descent – This post reports on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announcement that its Green Technology Pilot Program would be extended for three months but “will soon draw to a close.” The program is being extended through March 30, 2012 or until 3,500 applications are accepted onto the fast track. This post provides links to more information on the issue and how to get placed on the application fast track.

3) USPTO.gov: 2011 Was Quite a Year – Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, Dave Kappos shares on his public blog about the accomplishments and milestones that occurred for IP and the USPTO in 2011. For a summary of all that occurred at the USPTO in regards to its initiatives, programs, and statistical successes this past year, this blog post from Kappos is a good place to start.

4) Foss Patents: Workarounds and Designarounds are What Steve Jobs Suggested to Google and its Device Makers – This post discussed the logistics behind patent filings and litigation, and why cases like the recent Apple v. HTC matter. According to the article, companies like Apple, “…can only keep bringing new assertions as long as their adversaries don’t win rulings that make a quick settlement on the basis of a cross-license a necessity.”

5) The IPKat: Recording a Patent Licence: Is There a Reason for Doing So? – This post explores the issue of recording  a patent license on various national registries.  The post makes contrasts and comparisons to filing trademark rights internationally to the requirements of filing patent licenses internationally, and discusses whether or not such endeavors are necessary and worthwhile.

On behalf of the Patent Law Practice Center, have a wonderfully merry holiday weekend! 

Scott McKeown on Which Comes 1st: The USPTO or the Court?

The hierarchy of the U.S. court system is well established, but recent patent law cases have challenged this hierarchy with the power of government agency – the USPTO to be exact. Scott McKeown, Partner at Oblon, Spivak, Practice Center Contributor and author of Patents Post Grant Blog, recently wrote two articles concerning the USPTO’s reexamination process and how its parallel nature to patent infringement cases resulted in conflict that’s occurred with the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit (CAFC) as well as with the U.S. District Court in the District of Connecticut. Scott explains the patent law issue:

Patent reexamination is often initiated in parallel with an ongoing infringement litigation. In the case of a parallel inter partes proceeding (IPX), the first of the proceedings to conclude (litigation or IPX) controls the outcome of the other by operation of statutory estoppel. As such, a final holding in the parallel court proceeding will end an ongoing IPX. Moreover, the losing party would be precluded from seeking IPX at a later date.

On the other hand, ex parte patent reexamination (EXP) has no such statutory “shut off valve.” Thus, even a party that was bound by IPX estoppel could file a request for ex parte patent reexamination. In this way, the infringer could attempt to “undo” the effect of the earlier, final, court judgement by invalidating the patent via the EXP filing. (more…)

LG Attack on Whirlpool Refrigerator Patent, Among the Reexamination Requests Filed the Week of Dec. 5, 2011

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

LG has requested reexamination of Whirlpool patent for icemakers (see inter partes Request No. 3).  The Whirlpool patent is already the subject of a declaratory judgment action in Delaware, also filed by LG.  The two companies have been involved in a series of disputes over refrigerator patents.

Hitachi Koki has requested reexamination of seven Milwaukee Electronic Tool patents for lithium battery packs for hand-tools (see inter partes Request Nos. (8) to (10) and ex parte Request Nos. (5) to (8)).  Milwaukee has sued Hitachi in the Eastern District of Wisconsin for infringing the patents

Reexamination was also requested for two Ronald Katz patents for a telephonic lottery (see ex parte Request Nos. (3) & (4).  Katzpatents have been the subject of quite a number of reexaminations over the years. (more…)

Top 5 Patent Law Blog Posts of the Week

Today we continue our weekly installment highlighting the best of the patent blogosphere from the past week. Highlights include the anticipated revisions to the Patent Bar, a conflict of interest for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Breyer, and an update from the USPTO’s collaborations in improving the patent system via open access.

1. IP Watchdog: PTO Updates Patent Bar Exam to Test AIA & Appeal Rules – The Patent Bar will change to reflect the new rules incarnated by the America Invents Act. This post outlines what new topics will be tested and how the USPTO has established a trend in making sure the exam is as up to date as possible. The new Patent Bar exam will debut January 31, 2012. For information regarding PLI’s Patent Bar Review (Jan. 11-15, 2012), click here.

2. Peer To Patent: Improving Patent Systems through Open Access– The USPTO hosted its Second Annual Prior Art Collaboration Conference in October 2011, and this post provides the proceedings that developed during the conference. Participants such as WIPO, the European Patent Office, the U.K. Intellectual Property Office, IP Australia, the Japan Patent Office, and the Korea Intellectual Property Office discussed ways in which the patent offices and the public could work together to improve access to prior art. (more…)

Top 5 Patent Law Blog Posts of the Week

Today we are debuting a weekly installment highlighting the best of the patent blogosphere from the past week. Highlights include USPTO updates and announcements, as well as the expiration of the patent for the world’s best selling prescription drug – ever.

1. IP Watchdog: USPTO Announces More PPH Agreements, China and Iceland – Several announcements came out of the USPTO this week regarding launches for Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programs with China’s State Intellectual Property Office, the Icelandic Patent Office, as well as the start of the Paris Route PPH program. This post details how the PPH programs facilitate work-sharing benefits worldwide.

2. Patents Post-Grant: USPTO to Implement New Ex Parte Appeal Rules for 2012 – At the beginning of the week, the USPTO released the final rule package regarding the Rules of Practice Before the Board of Patent Appeals & Interferences in Ex Parte Appeals. This post explains the application of the new rules and how they will impact ex parte proceedings and ex parte reexamination. *PLI will be hosting a One Hour Briefing on the USPTO’s new rules on Jan. 9, 2012. Stay tuned for more information. Also check out information regarding PLI’s  Post-Grant USPTO Proceedings 2012 – The New Patent Litigation Seminar on Feb. 3, 2012.

3. Reexamination Alert: Judge Randa Refuses to Lift Reexamination Stay Despite Patentee’s Success (So Far) with Examiner – This post from Westerman, Hattori, Daniels & Adrian, LLP shares an interesting twist to the use of the 35 U.S.C. Section 316(a) standard for “complete” reexamination. In Generac Power Systems v. Kohler, the twist came when an accused infringer invoked Section 316(a) to maintain a reexamination stay rather than the more common practice of the patentee using the section.

4. TIME: Lipitor Already Cheaper After Patent Expiration – Pfizer’s patent for their best selling prescription drug, Lipitor, expired this week. According to this article, Pfizer’s sales from Lipitor averaged at about $11 billion dollars per year, which ends up being roughly one-sixth of Pfizer’s total sales. Because of the patent’s expiration, Pfizer is now doing what it can in order to preserve whatever claim it has to Lipitor, including selling the drug at a steep discount (to counter-act the sale of the generic drug at an estimated 80% discount), as well as paying pharmacies to spread the news to its customers about the discount. How Pfizer reacts to losing the patent for the best selling prescription drug of all time will have an impact on how the rest of the pharmaceutical market handles patent expiration.

5. Patently-O: Holiday Gift List for Patent Attorneys and the Like – Although this blog post is from last week, I thought it would be good to share right before the weekend, considering the holiday season is upon us and all types of holiday parties (whether they be office or social) are popping up each week. Patent attorneys deserve cool presents too, and this list is full of great and very different gift ideas. Enjoy!