September 29th, 2008

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Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
September 29th, 2008
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Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Judge: Microsoft doesn't owe Alcatel-Lucent $1.5B -Judge to award J&J damages in stent suit -P&G again sues Kraft over plastic coffee containers -Chip Maker Rambus Wins Battles, but Faces Bigger War -Patent exhaustion does not create a cause of action; dismissal affirmed -IP bill passes Senate, no civil enforcement power for DoJ -Controversial patent buyer to start Indian operations in Oct -Google unveils its G1 cellphone, potential rival to Apple's iPhone -An Avatar's Bill of Rights -The Friday Flashback: Schwinn Quality, Made in Chicago -The Birthday Last Wednesday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Judge: Microsoft doesn't owe Alcatel-Lucent $1.5B (AP/Physorg) Microsoft Corp. does not have to pay $1.5 billion in damages to Alcatel-Lucent SA, a panel of federal appeals judges ruled Thursday, in what may be the last word on a long-running digital music patent lawsuit. Read More Judge to award J&J damages in stent suit (TwinCities) New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson moved a step closer to collecting several hundred million dollars from Fridley-based Medtronic and Boston Scientific in an 11-year-old dispute involving patents for heart stents. Read More P&G again sues Kraft over plastic coffee containers (Reuters) Procter & Gamble Co is again suing Kraft Foods Inc. claiming Kraft's new plastic Maxwell House coffee container infringes on patents Procter holds for its Folgers coffee brand. Read More Chip Maker Rambus Wins Battles, but Faces Bigger War (NYTimes) Craig Hampel has spent the last two years trying to design the next leap in memory chip technology, one that will allow computers to display more detailed graphics even faster. Now comes the hard part: persuading the world's memory chip manufacturers to pay for it. Read More Patent exhaustion does not create a cause of action; dismissal affirmed (filewrapper) In a decision last week, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's decision dismissing a case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The plaintiff brought suit when it believed the patent holder had fraudulently concealed a second licensee of the same patents. Read More IP bill passes Senate, no civil enforcement power for DoJ (Arstechnica_ The PRO-IP Act, which would ramp up enforcement of intellectual property laws and stiffen penalties for infringers, won approval by unanimous consent in the Senate Friday-but only after legislators stripped out a controversial provision that would have empowered the Department of Justice to litigate civil suits on behalf of content owners and hand over the winnings. Read More Controversial patent buyer to start Indian operations in Oct (WSJ) New Delhi: Individual inventors and research organizations here may find their patents turning liquid with the imminent entry of Intellectual Ventures Llc., a controversial company that owns an estimated 20,000 patents and is in the market for as many more as it can lay its hands on. Read More Google unveils its G1 cellphone, potential rival to Apple's iPhone (LATimes) Google Inc. on Tuesday showed off a cellphone that could provide the first real challenge to Apple Inc.'s iPhone: a mass-market device with a sharp touch screen and slide-out keyboard that brings the experience of mobile Web surfing closer to that of a personal computer. Read More An Avatar's Bill of Rights (LAW) The 3-D Internet, or "Web 3.0," is an amalgam of virtual reality, convention center, circus, college campus, nightclub, mall, playground and Main Street. Users are getting their first taste of Web 3.0 on virtual world sites like Second Life, which are typically "members only" proprietary sites accessed through the Internet. People are drawn to the interactive, immersing experience these sites offer, and by some estimates there are as many as 300 million active users. Read More The Friday Flashback: Schwinn Quality, Made in Chicago (CanyonNews) Ahhhh, the Schwinn Stingray. Our first real bicycle at 7 years of age was a Stingray in blue, with a five-speed gear shift on the top tube, banana seat, coaster brake, sissy bar and baseball cards fitted between the spokes. That Stingray sparked a lifelong love affair between the bicycle and us. Over the years we've saddled atop a seeming score of other Schwinns, including our current bike, a 2000 Mesa GS that's logged over 40,000 miles in eight years of riding. Read More The Birthday Last Wednesday Yes, the 17th of September was the 221st birthday of the Constitution, and I choose to talk about it through the three great contributions that Benjamin Franklin made to that document. Plus, of course, his summary comment on the steps of Independence Hall when the delegates were leaving for the last time, A woman approached Dr. Franklin and said, "What kind of government have you given us?" He replied, "A republic, if you can keep it." Read More ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Go Green with our exclusive First to File® EFR™ system ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The First to File EFR™ electronic filing and storage system is our next generation product which is designed to reduce paper output in corporate patent departments. This system integrates seamlessly with outside docketing providers and document management systems using XML API technology. The First to File EFR system is an out of box solution with customized fields and user profiles to match your company's IP management workflow. First to File EFR™ also features the following: · Exclusive Tri-Fold™ interface · Effective patent workflow process management · Fully searchable text with InstantOCR™ · WebDAV drag-and-drop functionality · Centralized Reference Library with search and ranking · PAIR integration · LDAP administration · Managed user access · Effective group collaboration · Serversecure™ technology · Document level security access FTF Technologies specializes in finding cost-effective solutions to meet the needs of individual patent departments. To find out more information about First to File EFR™, please click Here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September 22nd, 2008

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Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
September 22nd, 2008
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Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Broadcom patent claim against Qualcomm revived -ITC to look into patent claims over Nintendo's Wii -Samsung bid for SanDisk shows memory market woes -Intellectual Ventures Getting Antsy; Expect Lawsuits Soon -Invention Capitalism & the Law: Checking in on Nathan Myhrvold -Acacia tops troll litigation league -Want a Declaratory Judgment? Don't Stipulate to Infringement, Validity, and Enforceability of the Patent in Question -Patent examiner made two legal errors in stem cell patent decision, consumer advocates claim -University of Utah scientist sues firm over contribution to invention -Stephen Hawking unveils oddest clock ever -Lambert jumps into automotive "fad" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Broadcom patent claim against Qualcomm revived (AP/LATimes) A U.S. appeals court resurrects a claim against one type of chip involving transmitting of radio signals. It upholds a finding in Qualcomm's favor on a second patent and is reviewing a third. Read More ITC to look into patent claims over Nintendo's Wii (EETimes) The Washington based International Trade Commission will rule over a patent violation claim against games console maker Nintendo brought by a Rockland, Maryland based research company, Hillcrest Labs, which says the hugely successful Wii console violates its IP. Read More Samsung bid for SanDisk shows memory market woes (AP/RockyMountainNews) A $5.85 billion bid by Samsung Electronics Co. to take over SanDisk Corp., a wounded competitor that also serves as a partner, reflects the turbulence in the market for flash memory, a key ingredient in digital cameras, music players and other devices. Read More Intellectual Ventures Getting Antsy; Expect Lawsuits Soon (TechDirt) By this point, it should be rather clear what we think of Nathan Myhrvold's Intellectual Ventures project. It's perhaps the biggest threat to innovation around, as Myhrvold is collecting a ton of patents (now up to 20,000 apparently) and pressuring companies to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to get blanket licenses to avoid getting sued. Read More Invention Capitalism & the Law: Checking in on Nathan Myhrvold (WSJ) Nathan Myhrvold - who began college at age 14, and went on to earn a master's degree in mathematical economics and a PhD in theoretical and mathematical physics by age 23 - is perhaps the most mentioned Law Blog subject who doesn't own a law degree. Why? One word: patents. Read More Acacia tops troll litigation league (AIM) Acacia Technologies is the most litigious non-practising entity/troll (delete according to preference) in the United States. According to research done by PatentFreedom, which is featured in an article to be published in the next issue of IAM, Acacia has been involved in a total of 308 cases in the US courts, 239 of which have been filed since 2003. Read More Want a Declaratory Judgment? Don't Stipulate to Infringement, Validity, and Enforceability of the Patent in Question (Patentbaristas) In Janssen Pharma v. Apotex (08-1062), Apotex tried to get the federal circuit to grant a do-over of the dismissal of its declaratory judgment action for noninfringement against Janssen. Janssen holds an approved NDA for its drug Risperdal® Oral Solution for which the Orange Book listed U.S. Patent Nos. 4,804,663, 5,453,425 and 5,616,587. The '663 patent has been the subject of prior litigation where it was found to be infringed, valid, and enforceable. While Apotex was not a party to that trial, Apotex stipulated to infringement, validity, and enforceability of the '663 patent based on the Federal Circuit opinion. Read More Patent examiner made two legal errors in stem cell patent decision, consumer advocates claim (WTNNews) In a brief filed with the U.S. Patent Office's board of appeals and interferences, consumer watchdog groups have cited two legal errors allegedly made by a patent examiner in confirming a Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation patent on human embryonic stem cells. The groups that filed the briefs, Consumer Watchdog and the Public Patent Foundation, have asked that WARF's claims on patent 913 be rejected. Read More University of Utah scientist sues firm over contribution to invention (SLTrib) A University of Utah chemist has sued a Utah County firm, alleging that its devices - potentially lucrative hand-held units that field test for chemical agents - are based on patents he helped author. Read More Stephen Hawking unveils oddest clock ever A $1.8 million mechanical clock featuring a massive time-eating grasshopper made its debut at the University of Cambridge Friday, and famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking was on site to introduce the strange and provocative timepiece. Read More Lambert jumps into automotive "fad" (Timesbulletin) It was an exciting year. Nellie Bly completed her round-the-world journey in 72 days. The United States Census Bureau began using a tabulating machine that utilized punch cards to count census returns. Idaho and Wyoming were welcomed as states. Vincent van Gogh committed suicide and the Wounded Knee Massacre took place in South Dakota. A Brooklyn painter named Robert Gair became disgusted with the flimsy nature of the paper board boxes and invented the much stronger corrugated cardboard box. Read More ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Go Green with our exclusive First to File® EFR™ system ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The First to File EFR™ electronic filing and storage system is our next generation product which is designed to reduce paper output in corporate patent departments. This system integrates seamlessly with outside docketing providers and document management systems using XML API technology. The First to File EFR system is an out of box solution with customized fields and user profiles to match your company's IP management workflow. First to File EFR™ also features the following: · Exclusive Tri-Fold™ interface · Effective patent workflow process management · Fully searchable text with InstantOCR™ · WebDAV drag-and-drop functionality · Centralized Reference Library with search and ranking · PAIR integration · LDAP administration · Managed user access · Effective group collaboration · Serversecure™ technology · Document level security access FTF Technologies specializes in finding cost-effective solutions to meet the needs of individual patent departments. To find out more information about First to File EFR™, please click Here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September 8th, 2008

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Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
September 8th, 2008
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Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Kodak sues Sun over Java -Appeals Court Overturns $49M Patent Award Against TARGUSinfo -TiVo Shares Fall After No Decision In Dish Case -'Uphill battle' lies ahead in Crocs' patent claims -PATENTS; New patents study findings have been reported from University of Iowa -Can Protest Prevent Patents? -Chinese Scientists Build Big Pharma Back Home -Big Pharma Keen on Partnering With Academia -Some IP Attorneys Look to Make Their Mark as Patent-Holders -Apple admit Briton DID invent iPod, but he's still not getting any money -PENCILS: In high-tech world, what's the point? -Techman: Patent-minded woman an early musician, artist, techie ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kodak sues Sun over Java (ComputerWorld) Eastman Kodak Co. has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Sun Microsystems Inc. over its Java programming technology, Sun said late yesterday. The software and hardware maker offered no details of the lawsuit, and Eastman Kodak has yet to disclose its filing, which was made in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, according to a statement from Sun. Read More Appeals Court Overturns $49M Patent Award Against TARGUSinfo (MarketWatch) The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected on Aug. 29, 2008 the enhanced-damage award issued against TARGUSinfo and vacated the $49 million damages award against Targus Information Corporation (TARGUSinfo) in a patent suit over technology for routing calls to 800-numbers. Read More TiVo Shares Fall After No Decision In Dish Case (BN/MultichannelNews) TiVo shares plunged 16.5% Thursday after a federal judge did not issue a decision on the company's request to hold Dish Network in contempt of a court order related to TiVo's patent-infringement victory against the satellite operator. Read More 'Uphill battle' lies ahead in Crocs' patent claims Crocs has waged war on alleged knockoffs, filing patent-infringement complaints left and right. The company's tenacity is easy to understand. If Crocs fails, and competitors are able to sell similar shoes successfully and at lower prices, the loss of market share "could be devastating," according to Kevin O'Brien, a lawyer and professor at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business. Read More PATENTS; New patents study findings have been reported from University of Iowa (LexisNexis/PharmaBusinessWeek) According to a study from the United States, "The patent doctrine of inequitable conduct dictates that any material information a patent applicant intentionally withholds from an examiner while obtaining a patent can render the applicants patent unenforceable. Yet, the standard for materiality under the doctrine of inequitable conduct has changed frequently over the past thirty years." Read More Can Protest Prevent Patents? (Pharmtech) Americans are focused on the election in November, but it bears mentioning that voting is not the only way to participate in democracy. Expressing your opinion about an issue to legislators and other public officials can be an effective way to get them to take your side. Read More Chinese Scientists Build Big Pharma Back Home (BusinessWeek) The cocktail chatter in a private room at Manhattan's Cornell Club turned to a hush as 40 pharmaceutical executives, investment bankers, and attorneys raised their wine glasses to Raymond Wu, who died on Feb. 10. The Cornell University geneticist helped pioneer drought-resistant rice. Read More Big Pharma Keen on Partnering With Academia (RedOrbit) Big pharmaceutical companies have shifted their focus towards partnering with academic institutions for scientific discoveries and other innovations, reported the Financial Times. According to the news source, drug majors are increasingly looking towards the academia to overcome limited late-stage pipelines and failures in drug development. Rise in generic competition for top-selling drugs and shortage in the drug development pipeline are said to be the prime reasons behind the sudden focus on the industry-academia partnership. Read More Some IP Attorneys Look to Make Their Mark as Patent-Holders (Law) Looking at a patent recently asserted against a client, Silicon Valley patent litigator Chris Graham had a moment of disbelief. The Dechert attorney saw that the named inventor on the patent, which was being used to sue online resume-posting sites like his client Monster.com, was an attorney he knew -- San Jose, Calif., lawyer Michael Powell, now an associate at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges. Read More Apple admit Briton DID invent iPod, but he's still not getting any money (DailyMail) Apple has finally admitted that a British man who left school at 15 is the inventor behind the iPod. Kane Kramer, 52, came up with the technology that drives the digital music player nearly 30 years ago but has still not seen a penny from his invention. Read More PENCILS: In high-tech world, what's the point? Like pennies and paper clips, pencils occupy the junk drawers of life. They're chewed, snapped in two, used as back-scratchers and drum sticks. They point to charts, punch in phone numbers, and prop open books. We buy them maybe once a year - if we've got children in elementary school. Read More Techman: Patent-minded woman an early musician, artist, techie (Post-Gazette) In the early 1900s, the ladies and gentlemen who donned their finery to attend a performance of the Pittsburgh Orchestra at the Carnegie Music Hall may have heard concert pianist Mary Hallock-Greenewalt perform. But many of those culture mavens probably didn't know that they were seeing a woman of not only musical talents, but also technological ones. Read More ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Go Green with our exclusive First to File® EFR™ system ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The First to File EFR™ electronic filing and storage system is our next generation product which is designed to reduce paper output in corporate patent departments. This system integrates seamlessly with outside docketing providers and document management systems using XML API technology. The First to File EFR system is an out of box solution with customized fields and user profiles to match your company's IP management workflow. First to File EFR™ also features the following: · Exclusive Tri-Fold™ interface · Effective patent workflow process management · Fully searchable text with InstantOCR™ · WebDAV drag-and-drop functionality · Centralized Reference Library with search and ranking · PAIR integration · LDAP administration · Managed user access · Effective group collaboration · Serversecure™ technology · Document level security access FTF Technologies specializes in finding cost-effective solutions to meet the needs of individual patent departments. To find out more information about First to File EFR™, please click Here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

September 2nd, 2008

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Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
September 2nd, 2008
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Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles)

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-Qualcomm violates Broadcom patent injunction
-PlayStation 3 at risk as Sony faces Blu-ray patent lawsuit
-Judge Cuts Damages In Boston Scientific Patent Row
-Appeals Court Vacates $49 Million Award in Patent Case
-USPTO Seeks Practitioners to Test Online Continuing Education System.
-Breaking the patent logjam
-Too common scientific fraud should be punished
-Light Reading For Labor Day: 2007 Annual US Court Report
-Daydream achiever
-Father-son team offers tech innovation

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Qualcomm violates Broadcom patent injunction

The US District Court for the Central District of California has found wireless telecommunications products and services company Qualcomm in contempt of an order designed to prevent the company from violating three Broadcom patents.

Read More

PlayStation 3 at risk as Sony faces Blu-ray patent lawsuit

(The TechHerald) With a recent consumer report revealing that Sony's Blu-ray format is struggling to find market traction, the high-definition standard is now facing a potentially costly court battle with Orinda Intellectual Properties USA, which claims that Sony's HD platform infringes on its patented technology.

Read More

Judge Cuts Damages In Boston Scientific Patent Row

(Dow Jones/SmartMoney) Boston Scientific Corp. said a federal judge found two patents held by rival Medtronic Inc. to be unenforceable and slashed the damages Boston Scientific must pay in a patent-infringement case involving devices to remove blockages in coronary arteries.

Read More

Appeals Court Vacates $49 Million Award in Patent Case

(LegalTimes) The Federal Circuit last Friday dialed up 1-800-REVERSE. In a patent dispute between companies that route "1-800" phone calls for major companies, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit tossed a $49 million enhanced-damage award lodged against Virginia-based Targus Information Corp.

Read More

USPTO Seeks Practitioners to Test Online Continuing Education System.

(Anticipate This) The USPTO is developing a Continuing Education for Practitioners ("CEP") system for on-line delivery of educational materials to patent practitioners, and is seeking help in piloting the on-line system. The CEP system is built on the recognition that a smoothly operating patent system requires well-qualified USPTO personnel working hand-in-hand with up-to-date patent practitioners.

Read More

Breaking the patent logjam

(FT) Any effective system of patent administration requires close co-operation between private inventors and government officials. Unlike land, or mining, or even copyright claims, it takes more than a simple filing to perfect a patent claim.

Read More

Too common scientific fraud should be punished

(NewsDay) Scientists enjoy a high level of public credibility. Their pronouncements on matters ranging from global warming to cloning are usually taken at face value. But while most scientists are honest, that doesn't mean we should unquestioningly accept what they say. A study released this month says that scientific fraud is not being seriously punished.

Read More

Light Reading For Labor Day: 2007 Annual US Court Report

(271 Patent Blog) When you're not preoccupied wiping BBQ sauce from your hands (and children's faces) this weekend, the Statistics Division for the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts released its annual report (all 416 pages) on "Judicial Business of the United States Courts."

Read More

Daydream achiever

(The Boston Globe) ON A SUNDAY morning in 1974, Arthur Fry sat in the front pews of a Presbyterian church in north St. Paul, Minn. An engineer at 3M, Fry was also a singer in the church choir. He had gotten into the habit of inserting little scraps of paper into his choir book, so that he could quickly find the right hymns during the service. The problem, however, was that the papers would often fall out, causing Fry to lose his place.

Read More

Father-son team offers tech innovation

(The News Sentinel) A Fort Wayne father-and-son team has developed technology that could transform the radio-frequency identification tags now commonly used to track and manage inventory.

Read More

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Go Green with our exclusive First to File® EFR™ system

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The First to File EFR™ electronic filing and storage system is our next generation product which is designed to reduce paper output in corporate patent departments. This system integrates seamlessly with outside docketing providers and document management systems using XML API technology. The First to File EFR system is an out of box solution with customized fields and user profiles to match your company's IP management workflow.

First to File EFR™ also features the following:

· Exclusive Tri-Fold™ interface
· Effective patent workflow process management
· Fully searchable text with InstantOCR™
· WebDAV drag-and-drop functionality
· Centralized Reference Library with search and ranking
· PAIR integration
· LDAP administration
· Managed user access
· Effective group collaboration
· Serversecure™ technology
· Document level security access

FTF Technologies specializes in finding cost-effective solutions to meet the needs of individual patent departments. To find out more information about First to File EFR™, please click Here.

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