October 20th, 2008

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

Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
October 20th, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Qualcomm: Nokia to pay $2.5 billion -Nike Sues Wal-Mart, Claiming Cushioned Shoe Design is Copied -District Court Affirms Patent Infringement Rulings And Finds That Amgen Is Entitled To A Permanent Injunction Against Roche -French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis loses patent lawsuit in S. Korea -Encyclopaedia Britannica loses patent case -Mobile jurors give $192 million to Idea Man -Fulbright's Litigation Trends Survey: U.S. Companies Prepare for Rise in Litigation - U.S. Release -Microsoft: We're all 'mixed source' companies -Latha Jishnu: Enter the patent troll -Obama's and McCain's Technology Policies Examined -Canola oil powers gasless race winners to Vegas -Microsoft Patents the Censoring of Speech ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Qualcomm: Nokia to pay $2.5 billion (AP) Wireless semiconductor company Qualcomm Inc. will get an upfront payment of $2.5 billion from Nokia Corp. in a settlement of a royalties dispute, a spokeswoman said Friday. Read More Nike Sues Wal-Mart, Claiming Cushioned Shoe Design is Copied (ABAJournal) Nike claims in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Chicago that Wal-Mart is selling shoes that infringe on its patented design. The suit claims Wal-Mart's Detra shoes infringe on two patents related to its Shox brand cushioning system, the Wall Street Journal reports. Read More District Court Affirms Patent Infringement Rulings And Finds That Amgen Is Entitled To A Permanent Injunction Against Roche (MedicalNewsToday) Amgen announced today that the United States (U.S.) District Court in Boston issued its written decision upholding the prior jury verdict and court rulings regarding the infringement, validity and enforceability of 10 claims of four of Amgen's erythropoietin (EPO) patents. The Court also ruled that Amgen is entitled to a permanent injunction prohibiting Roche from selling its pegylated-erythropoietin (peg-EPO) product MIRCERA in the U.S. Previously, the Court entered a preliminary injunction preventing Roche from selling peg-EPO, and Roche has appealed that ruling. Read More French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis loses patent lawsuit in S. Korea (Trading Markets) French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA has lost a legal battle with a local company Boryung Pharmaceutical Co. over its treatment for colorectal cancer, the South Korean company said Monday. Read More Encyclopaedia Britannica loses patent case (Spero News) Alpine Electronics, manufacturers of high performance mobile electronics, including mobile navigational products, won a patent infringement case started by Encyclopaedia Brtannica. Read More Mobile jurors give $192 million to Idea Man (AL) A chemical expert who contended that he created a method of transforming certain hazardous industrial wastes into lucrative manufacturing ingredients - only to have his idea usurped - was awarded a $192 million jury verdict last Friday in Mobile, AL. Read More Fulbright's Litigation Trends Survey: U.S. Companies Prepare for Rise in Litigation - U.S. Release (Fulbright.com) More than one-third of corporate counsel expect pace of new filings to increase in coming year-43% of billion-dollar companies forecasting possible litigation uptick amid economic slowdown. Read More Microsoft: We're all 'mixed source' companies (CNet) In case you were wondering, Microsoft thinks the battle of open source vs. proprietary software is basically over. "Today, but increasingly in the future, we are all going to be 'mixed source'," Microsoft's top intellectual property lawyer said in a lunchtime interview on Thursday. To bolster his claim, Horacio Gutierrez notes Microsoft is releasing plenty of stuff as open source, while open-source companies like Red Hat often license commercial software alongside their open-source products. "I actually think the war between proprietary and open source is a thing of the past," he said. Read More Latha Jishnu: Enter the patent troll (Business-Standard) If you are familiar with Norse legends you would know what a troll is. Trolls are supernatural beings, a race of giants in Icelandic mythology or goblins in the Scandinavian tradition, who were mostly evil although they could be extremely generous to humans who helped them. Read More Obama's and McCain's Technology Policies Examined (ScienceDaily) As the 2008 presidential election enters its final month, researchers at the Annenberg Research Network on International Communication (ARNIC) have found some sharp differences - and surprising similarities - in the two major candidates' positions on technology policy. Read More Canola oil powers gasless race winners to Vegas (SFGate) Wayne Keith, a hay farmer from Springville, Ala. (population 3,000), pulled into Berkeley last week driving a lime-green pickup truck that runs mostly on wood chips but sometimes cow dung, too. Keith, who wore dirt-flecked overalls and a trucker's cap, was in town to compete in the first Escape from Berkeley race, a kind of mini Cannonball Run to Las Vegas for drivers of vehicles that run on anything but petroleum. Read More Microsoft Patents the Censoring of Speech (Slashdot) On Tuesday, the USPTO awarded Microsoft a patent for the Automatic Censorship of Audio Data for Broadcast, an invention that addresses 'producing censored speech that has been altered so that undesired words or phrases are either unintelligible or inaudible.' 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 13th, 2008

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

Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
October 13th, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Verizon loses patent suit against Cox -Intel shakes AMD's chip-fabbing baby -TiVo gets $104.6 million check from EchoStar judgement -Why sinking markets could mean real opportunities for patent acquirers and licensees -Patent Lawsuit Silly Season: TechCrunch Sued For Patent Infringement After Critical Blog Post -Former GC Reflects on Time Immersed in IP Battles -So, How (and When) Will You Get Your Patent Term Adjustment Corrected? -Infringement Found Because Defendant Did Not Affirmatively Plead Noninfringement -US Government Seeking IP Law Experts; Signs Work-Sharing Deals -Intuition + Money: An Aha Moment -My Brain, Your Brawn ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Verizon loses patent suit against Cox (CNet) Verizon Communications suffered a major blow in its patent battles on Monday, when a federal court ruled that cable company Cox Communications had not infringed on its patents. The telecommunications giant has accused Cox of violating six of its patents related to Internet telephony. Read More Intel shakes AMD's chip-fabbing baby (The Register) AMD's plans to spin its debt-dependent chip manufacturing biz into a separate entity may free the chipmaker from a considerable financial burden, but old rivalries with Intel will assure things don't go down without a hitch. Read More TiVo gets $104.6 million check from EchoStar judgement (MercuryNews) Tivo got its $104,600,472 payment from Echostar, now known as Dish Network, over violation of a patent held by TiVo involving digital video recorders, according to a filing it made today with the SEC. Read More Why sinking markets could mean real opportunities for patent acquirers and licensees (iam) Although there may be some question marks over the future of IP-related financing given recent events, the outlook for those seeking to acquire good quality patents and other IP rights could be very bright. That may seem counter-intuitive as stock markets across the world continue to fall, but think about it for a moment. Read More Patent Lawsuit Silly Season: TechCrunch Sued For Patent Infringement After Critical Blog Post (Techdirt) There are different levels of ridiculousness when it comes to patent lawsuits, with the lowest of the low being patent lawsuits based more on spite than on any legitimate claim. For a while, it seemed like Ray Niro's use of the infamous JPG patent, to sue a bunch companies he just didn't like, was perhaps alone in that category. But, it appears that we now have a new entrant. Apparently, some company (who we won't even name, since there's a good chance it's doing this just to get press attention) sued a more well-known competitor for patent infringement, over a location-based services patent. Read More Former GC Reflects on Time Immersed in IP Battles (LAW) When tiny Immersion Corp. had finally beaten Sony in a long, ugly patent fight, the company's general counsel, Laura Peter, gave CEO Vic Viegas a white cowboy hat. She presented it to Viegas at a celebration at the CEO's peninsula home in the spring of 2007 after Sony said it would drop all appeals and pay the San Jose, Calif., company $150 million to end five years of take-no-prisoners litigation. Read More So, How (and When) Will You Get Your Patent Term Adjustment Corrected? (Patentbaristas) As we saw in the Wyeth v. Dudas case, the US District Court for the District of Columbia overturned the USPTO's interpretation of 35 USC § 154 (the statute that prescribes patent terms). Section 154 grants extensions of patent terms for certain kinds of PTO delay. However, Congress says you can't double-dip, i.e., to the extent that periods of delay overlap, the period of any adjustment granted under this subsection shall not exceed the actual number of days the issuance of the patent was delayed. Read More Infringement Found Because Defendant Did Not Affirmatively Plead Noninfringement (Chicagoiplitigation) Judge Brown granted defendants-counterplaintiffs Square One Parachute's ("SOP") motion for summary judgment that plaintiff-counterdefendant Para Gear ("Para") infringed SOP's design patent based solely upon Para's failure to plead noninfringement as an affirmative defense. Originally, Para filed this case seeking a declaratory judgment of noninfringement and SOP counterclaimed for infringement. But Para later voluntarily dismissed its claim with prejudice. Read More US Government Seeking IP Law Experts; Signs Work-Sharing Deals (IPWatch) Private patent law attorneys should answer a higher calling and serve in the United States government so that experienced, practiced experts may help steer the country's patent system toward a better future, the chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said this week. Read More Intuition + Money: An Aha Moment (NYTimes) IT started with a Harvard physicist acting on a hunch. It ended up producing a new material, called black silicon, that could have a broad impact on technologies ranging from ultrasensitive sensors to photovoltaic cells. Read More My Brain, Your Brawn (WSJ) Decades after his father sold bagels and bialys on New York's Lower East Side, Gary Schwartzberg was convinced he had a product that could reinvent his family business. With a partner, Mr. Schwartzberg had developed a tube-shaped bagel filled with cream cheese -- an all-in-one, portable breakfast for the on-the-go crowd. 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 6th, 2008

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

Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
October 6th, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Court Awards Cordis $1.2 Bln. In Patent Litigation Against Medtronic, Boston Scientific -Will Johnson & Johnson Ever Get Its Money? -Omaha man loses patent lawsuit against Nike -Small Cleveland law firm awarded millions because courtroom rivals didn't play fair -Eastern Texas' IP 'Rocket Docket' Shows Signs of Slowing -Who Owns the Law? Arguments May Ensue -Patent trolls: Drain on innovation or defense of invention? -German Court Sees First Signs of European Patent Trolls -Has the Economic Mess Diluted Biotech's Hand -Want to be more productive? Sleep on it -How the Telescope Changed Our Minds -Niceville entrepreneur hopes golf game rings up sales ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Court Awards Cordis $1.2 Bln. In Patent Litigation Against Medtronic, Boston Scientific (RTTNews) Cordis Corp., a Johnson & Johnson company, announced Tuesday that the U.S. District Court in Delaware has awarded about $1.2 billion to the company in a patent infringement lawsuit against Medtronic Inc. Read More Will Johnson & Johnson Ever Get Its Money? (The Motley Fool) You'd think that a $1.2 billion award would make you happy. But the lawsuit that triggered it is just another fact of life for investors in pharma. Let's take a closer look at this particular example. Read More Omaha man loses patent lawsuit against Nike (Associated Press) An Omaha man has lost his patent infringement lawsuit against Nike Inc. Gerald Kellogg sued the Beaverton, Ore.-based athletic shoe and apparel company in 2007, claiming Nike had stolen his design for a vented cap. Kellogg sought between $2 million and $8 million. Read More Small Cleveland law firm awarded millions because courtroom rivals didn't play fair (Cleveland.com) Attorneys from an international law firm who supposedly misled and deceived jurors have been ordered to help pay $4.4 million in fees to the Cleveland lawyers who were their courtroom opponents in a patent trial. Read More Eastern Texas' IP 'Rocket Docket' Shows Signs of Slowing (Law.com) Patent lawsuit filings in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas -- long considered a national "rocket docket" for intellectual property litigation -- are ebbing after a steady increase during the past seven years. Read More Who Owns the Law? Arguments May Ensue (NYTimes) IN a time when scientists are trying to patent the very genetic code that creates life, it may not be too surprising to learn that a variety of organizations - from trade groups and legal publishers to the government itself - claim copyright to the basic code that governs our society. Read More Patent trolls: Drain on innovation or defense of invention? (MHT) Imagine you've developed an innovative product for a competitive market. One week after you launch the product, a lawyer contacts you. His client, a company you've you never heard of, claims a small but essential component of your product infringes a patent they own. Unless you settle for a licensing agreement, you'll find yourself in court in East Texas within a year. Read More German Court Sees First Signs of European Patent Trolls (Law.com) Could it be that the patent troll, once believed to survive only in the concrete jungles, high-tech valleys, and small Texas towns of North America, has extended its range to Europe? A case pending before a German court in Mannheim could signal its arrival. Read More Has the Economic Mess Diluted Biotech's Hand (TMC/BioWorld Today Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Three CEOs walk into a congressional hearing. One heads an investment bank, the other a automotive company and the third a pharmaceutical company. . . . OK, I've made up the opener. Someone, somewhere, must have a conclusion to this joke. It's begging to be told, if only so that frustrated citizens can blow off a little steam. Pharma execs have been in the hot seat for some time up on Capitol Hill, and whatever else they may be feeling about the financial turmoil currently gripping the nation, it must be mingled with a bit of relief that the nation's rage, as reflected through the lens of sanctimonious legislators, is turned elsewhere for the time being. Read More Want to be more productive? Sleep on it (SFGate) "Waste not life," wrote Benjamin Franklin, patron saint of American entrepreneurs. "In the grave will be sleeping enough." Centuries later, the attitude toward sleep in America - and in American business, in particular - has scarcely changed. Corporate culture reveres the e-mail sent at 3 a.m., the executive who rushes directly into a meeting from a red-eye flight. Bumper stickers offer an updated version of Franklin's dictum: "I'll sleep when I'm dead." Read More How the Telescope Changed Our Minds (Wired) Four hundred years after its invention, the telescope has become an essential scientific instrument, an icon of science. But it is more than just an extension of our senses - the telescope is an instrument of thought as well. Throughout its 400-year history, the telescope has changed our view of the universe and our view of ourselves. Read More Niceville entrepreneur hopes golf game rings up sales (NWFDailyNews) Sometimes inspiration for starting a business venture just shows up where you might least expect it. For Randy Herron, what he developed into a lawn game known as "Ring It! Golf" started with a visit to Greenville, N.C., eight years ago. 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~