May 19th, 2008

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Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
May 19th, 2008
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Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles)

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-East Texas jury orders Nintendo to pay $21 million to Tyler gaming company in patent case
-Network Appliance is suing Sun Microsystems for infringing on seven of their patents
-Inequitable Conduct: Failure to Submit Full Experimental Details
-Hewlett-Packard Awarded $51 Million Judgment Against Insurer, ACE
-US Agency to Investigate Semiconductor Patent Complaints
-Medical companies celebrate death of patent reform
-Bush Administration Presses On For Patent Reform Bill This Year
-Big Tech Companies Team Up To Share Info And Fight Patent Hoarders
-Can competitions raise 'cool' factor of math, science?

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East Texas jury orders Nintendo to pay $21 million to Tyler gaming company in patent case

(IHT) Nintendo of America Inc. was ordered to pay a small East Texas gaming company $21 million Wednesday for infringing on a patent while designing controllers for its popular Wii and GameCube systems.

Read More

Network Appliance is suing Sun Microsystems for infringing on seven of their patents

(Half Life Source) Sun shares closed down 2 percent after Network Appliance announced the suit, which also seeks a court ruling that Network Appliance is not infringing three of Sun's U.S. patents and that those patents are invalid.

Read More

Inequitable Conduct: Failure to Submit Full Experimental Details

(Patently-O) The CAFC affirmed a ruling that the Lovenox patents - owned by Aventis - are unenforceable due to a failure to submit important experimental information during prosecution.

Read More

Hewlett-Packard Awarded $51 Million Judgment Against Insurer, ACE

(PR-Inside) Federal District Court Judge James Ware found ACE Insurance Company owed Hewlett-Packard more than fifty-one million dollars in defense expenses, prejudgment interest and costs for defending an antitrust counterclaim under "advertisers' injury" coverage.

Read More

US Agency to Investigate Semiconductor Patent Complaints

(PCWorld) The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted to investigate complaints by two U.S. companies that 18 other companies are violating their patent for semiconductor chips containing tungsten metal.

Read More

Medical companies celebrate death of patent reform

(ZDNet) Medical device makers and drug companies are celebrating the apparent death of the 2008 Patent Reform Act.

Read More

Bush Administration Presses On For Patent Reform Bill This Year

(IP-Watch) Despite an apparent stalemate on patent reform in the United States Congress, the Bush administration is still pushing for a bill to be completed this congressional session.

Read More

Big Tech Companies Team Up To Share Info And Fight Patent Hoarders

(Techdirt) While the Patent Troll Tracker remains darkened, the world at large is definitely missing out on some of the more useful information he provided on his blog, shedding all sorts of light on some of the sneakier practices of various patent hoarding companies, who were often shell companies to hide the real identity of who was behind the lawsuits.

Read More

Can competitions raise 'cool' factor of math, science?

(CSMonitor) Math bees and science smackdowns for teen brainiacs are on the rise, along with efforts to fuel interest in those fields.

Read More

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

Have your references available at the click of a mouse with First to File's Innovative Reference Library™

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Introducing the First to File Reference Library; an innovative way to organize, access and view all of your references from a secure and centralized location. The Reference Library is a web-based solution that allows permissions-based users to securely access the system. Finding specific references in the library is simple with a robust search engine that allows full-text and keyword searching as well as searching by fields such as author, publication, reference type, among others. The Reference Library supports automatic IDS form creation and the ability to associate a reference to other cases and documents in your company's portfolio.

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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, please click Here.

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May 12th, 2008

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Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
May 12th, 2008
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Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles)

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-Appeals court issues split ruling in Alcatel-Lucent patent case
-INVISTA sues Dupont for withholding 'inventors'
-US trade agency wants to end deals delaying generics
-Report: Toyota loses Prius patent appeal
-Armstrong Foundation sued over "LiveStrong" tagline
-Online Gambling Patent Matter Could Get Ugly
-Patent Changes: Coming and Going
-U.S. Court Mulls Standard For Business Method Patents
-In the Air Who says big ideas are rare?
-A Guardian Angel In Your Cell Phone

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Appeals court issues split ruling in Alcatel-Lucent patent case

(CNet) A federal appeals court issued a split ruling on Alcatel-Lucent's patent infringement lawsuit against Microsoft and Dell.

Read More

INVISTA sues Dupont for withholding 'inventors'

(Reuters) A Koch Industries Inc subsidiary sued DuPont Co (DD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Wednesday to force the U.S. chemical company to provide three staffers the unit needs to defend itself in a patent dispute.

Read More

US trade agency wants to end deals delaying generics

(Reuters) A practice by major pharmaceutical companies of paying generic drug companies to delay putting cheaper medicines on the market violates federal law and must be stopped, a top ranking official with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said.

Read More

Report: Toyota loses Prius patent appeal

(Detroit Newswire) The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a $4.3 million award against Toyota Motor Corp. for using another company's patented technology in gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, including the top-selling Prius, Bloomberg News reported today.

Read More

Armstrong Foundation sued over "LiveStrong" tagline

(Bizjornals) An Oklahoma man has sued the nonprofit foundation created by Lance Armstrong for patent infringement over black and yellow dog collars showing the "LiveStrong" logo.

Read More

Online Gambling Patent Matter Could Get Ugly

(Gambling911) A complaint filed in a Missouri Supreme Court against seven online-gaming companies alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,564,001, titled "Method and System for Interactively Transmitting Information Over A Network Which Requires Reduced Bandwidth" could result in default judgments and potential confiscation of domain names.

Read More

Patent Changes: Coming and Going

(Patentbaristas) It appears that the Senate has pulled the plug on the Patent Reform Act (S. 1145) after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pulled the bill from the floor schedule. This is not a huge surprise given the interests against it.

Read More

U.S. Court Mulls Standard For Business Method Patents

A U.S. appeals court heard arguments Thursday over whether a patent should have been issued for a method to reduce the risk of sudden changes in energy costs.

Read More

In the Air Who says big ideas are rare?

(The New Yorker) Nathan Myhrvold met Jack Horner on the set of the "Jurassic Park" sequel in 1996. Horner is an eminent paleontologist, and was a consultant on the movie. Myhrvold was there because he really likes dinosaurs. Between takes, the two men got to talking, and Horner asked Myhrvold if he was interested in funding dinosaur expeditions.

Read More

A Guardian Angel In Your Cell Phone

(Slashdot) "Bill Gates and Ray Ozzie are listed as inventors of the Guardian Angel, which is described in a most unusual Microsoft patent application that should intrigue privacy advocates.

Read More

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

Have your references available at the click of a mouse with First to File's Innovative Reference Library™

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

Introducing the First to File Reference Library; an innovative way to organize, access and view all of your references from a secure and centralized location. The Reference Library is a web-based solution that allows permissions-based users to securely access the system. Finding specific references in the library is simple with a robust search engine that allows full-text and keyword searching as well as searching by fields such as author, publication, reference type, among others. The Reference Library supports automatic IDS form creation and the ability to associate a reference to other cases and documents in your company's portfolio.

First to File's Reference Library also features the following:

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· Fully customizable alerting and reporting
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· Managed user access
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· Serversecure™ technology

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, please click Here.

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May 5th, 2008

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Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
May 5th, 2008
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Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles)

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-J&J Sued by P&G Over Two Patents for Teeth-Whitening Strips
-Rambus says appeals court rules on its side against Samsung
-Microsoft Hit With Patent Suit Over RoundTable
-Gillette sues Korean firm in patent case
-Battle over patent law heats up in Congress
-Patent Law Battle a Boon to Lobbyists
-European Patent Office unties tongues
-Rethinking The Patent Universe
-The Unlucky Troll
-Con man tells dad's tale in book, but how much of it is a con

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J&J Sued by P&G Over Two Patents for Teeth-Whitening Strips

(Bloomberg) Johnson & Johnson, the maker of Listerine Whitening Quick Dissolving Strips was sued by Procter & Gamble Co. over two patents for teeth-brightening products.

Read More

Rambus says appeals court rules on its side against Samsung

(Associated Press) Rambus Inc. said Tuesday an appeals court ruled on its side in a patent lawsuit with Samsung Electronics Co., denying Samsung's motion for attorney fees and instructing a district court that it dismisses the South Korean company's complaint.

Read More

Microsoft Hit With Patent Suit Over RoundTable

(PCWorld) A company that develops cameras that produce 360-degree videos is suing Microsoft for alleged patent infringement in its RoundTable conferencing product.

Read More

Gillette sues Korean firm in patent case

(The Boston Globe) Gillette Co. has accused Korean firm Dorco Co. of violating the Boston shaving giant's patents and other intellectual property, according to a lawsuit filed on Friday in US District Court in Boston.

Read More

Battle over patent law heats up in Congress

(The Salt Lake Tribune) A fight has erupted in Congress over the question of whether drugmakers and other companies should be allowed to keep patents they obtained by misrepresentation or cheating.

Read More

Patent Law Battle a Boon to Lobbyists

(NYTimes) A fight has erupted in Congress over the question of whether drug makers and other companies should be allowed to keep patents they obtained by misrepresentation or cheating.

Read More

European Patent Office unties tongues

(Financial Post) As of Thursday, applicants for patents no longer need file separate versions of their applications in the 23 official and working languages used within the European Union. Docs in one language shall henceforth be enough, provided the chosen language is officially used within the EU.

Read More

Rethinking The Patent Universe

(Forbes) On May 8, all 12 members of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will gather in Washington to hear a case that could reshape the entire legal landscape of just what's eligible to receive that ultimate business stamp of approval from the U.S. government--a patent.

Read More

The Unlucky Troll

(Forbes) One of the original patent trolls is sitting on a licensing gold mine. Too bad he may never find out what it's really worth.

Read More

Con man tells dad's tale in book, but how much of it is a con?

Walter T. Shaw tells one heck of a story. His book, A License to Steal, is a compelling tale of a genius inventor who, swindled by the corporate giants of America and trying to feed a hungry family, sells his ideas to the Mafia.

Read More


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

Have your references available at the click of a mouse with First to File's Innovative
Reference Library™

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

Introducing the First to File Reference Library; an innovative way to organize, access and view all of your references from a secure and centralized location. The Reference Library is a web-based solution that allows permissions-based users to securely access the system. Finding specific references in the library is simple with a robust search engine that allows full-text and keyword searching as well as searching by fields such as author, publication, reference type, among others. The Reference Library supports automatic IDS form creation and the ability to associate a reference to other cases and documents in your company's portfolio.

First to File's Reference Library also features the following:

· Easy upload of references using WebDAV technology
· Fully customizable alerting and reporting
· Graphical continuity view
· Managed user access
· Document level security access
· Serversecure™ technology

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, please click Here.

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

April 28th, 2008

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Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
April 28th, 2008
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Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles)

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-LG accuses Whirlpool of patent infringement
-New York Mom Sues Victoria's Secret Over Bra Design
-MPEG-2 Patent Owners Sue Target Corporation for MPEG-2 Patent Infringement
-Bayer CropScience Goes After Chinese Company In Patent Suit
-Ex-Bristol-Myers Squibb official indicted for lying to feds
-Can Anyone Stop DataTreasury In its Patents Crusade?
-Could Constitutional Flaw Unravel Eight Years of Patent Board Rulings?
-Court asks government's views on states' patent liability
-Patent Office CIO to resign
-Patents in China - Is There Any Real Protection?
-Public successfully participates in U.S. Patent Examinination Proces

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LG accuses Whirlpool of patent infringement

(Reuters) LG Electronics on Thursday accused top appliance maker Whirlpool Corp of infringing three of the South Korean company's appliance patents.

Read More

New York Mom Sues Victoria's Secret Over Bra Design

(FoxNews) A woman sued Victoria's Secret on Monday, claiming the lingerie company's latest secret is that they stole her idea for a bra whose straps can be worn different ways.

Read More

MPEG-2 Patent Owners Sue Target Corporation for MPEG-2 Patent Infringement

(BusinessWire) MPEG LA, LLC, announced that several MPEG-2 patent owners have filed an enforcement action in the Federal District Court of the Southern District of New York against Target Corporation ("Target") and Doe Corporations 1-10, fictitious names for corporations currently unknown to the plaintiffs, for infringing patents essential to the MPEG-2 digital video compression standard used worldwide in digital television broadcasting and DVD.

Read More

Bayer CropScience Goes After Chinese Company In Patent Suit

(ChinaCSR) Bayer CropScience says it has filed a lawsuit against the Chinese company Jiangsu Tian Rong in an intermediate court in Jiangsu to enforce rights under its Chinese Mefenpyr patent.

Read More

Ex-Bristol-Myers Squibb official indicted for lying to feds

(AFP) A former senior vice president of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS) has been indicted for lying about a patent deal involving the blood-thinning drug Plavix, justice officials said Wednesday.

Read More

Can Anyone Stop DataTreasury In its Patents Crusade?

(BankTech) It looks like Data Treasury has claimed yet another victim in its patents game. It was announced recently that PNC Financial was the latest FI to settle with the notorious patent litigant over technology around electronic check imaging.

Read More

Could Constitutional Flaw Unravel Eight Years of Patent Board Rulings?

(Law.com) The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may have a major problem on its hands -- the possibly unconstitutional appointment of nearly two-thirds of its patent appeals judges.

Read More

Court asks government's views on states' patent liability

(CNN/AP) The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Bush administration to weigh in on a long-running fight between states and big business over whether states can be held liable for patent infringement.

Read More

Patent Office CIO to resign

(FCW) David Freeland, who has been chief information officer at the Patent and Trademark Office since 2005, has announced his plans to leave the agency.

Read More

Patents in China - Is There Any Real Protection?

(LocalTechWire) With increased pressure from the West and the World Trade Organization, China has instituted a number of reforms to its patent system.

Read More

Public successfully participates in U.S. Patent Examinination Process

(NYLS) For the first time in patent history, the general public has successfully used the Internet to help improve the quality of patent applications.

Read More

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First to File Automated Tri-Fold System is the only fully automated patent data storage system uniquely designed to protect your patent portfolio by storing and preserving your company's patent cases in a digitized format that mimics a patent department's paper case files. Using First to File's proprietary process, your company's paper patent documents are seamlessly converted into easy to view, fully searchable, digital patent case files. Backing up your company's paper case files into a digital environment will mitigate the risk of potential paper loss and ensure patent enforceability.

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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, please click Here.

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April 21st, 2008

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Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
April 21st, 2008
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Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles)

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-Pfizer wins blood-pressure drug patent decision in Canada
-AstraZeneca shares soar as patent case settled
-Appeals Court Overturns $78.9 Million Patent Verdict Against DirecTV
-Seagate files patent suit against drive-maker Stec
-US senator says "trying to resuscitate" patent bill
-U.S. patent chief: applications up, quality down
-Cisco blogger dragged into patent lawyer suit
-The Greening Of Patent Litigation
-Patent trolls and patent-busters
-Apple patent could revolutionize online shopping

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Pfizer wins blood-pressure drug patent decision in Canada

(Forbes) Drug developer Pfizer Inc. said late Thursday that a Canadian court upheld a patent covering the active ingredient in its blood-pressure drug Norvasc.

Read More

AstraZeneca shares soar as patent case settled

(TimesOnline) Shares in AstraZeneca rose sharply after the pharmaceuticals group settled a legal battle against India's largest generic drugs maker over the rights to produce one of the world's most valuable medicines.

Read More

Appeals Court Overturns $78.9 Million Patent Verdict Against DirecTV

(Dow Jones/CNN) A Washington-based appeals court Friday overturned a $78.9 million patent infringement judgment against DirecTV Group Inc., in a lawsuit involving claims by Finisar Corp.

Read More

Seagate files patent suit against drive-maker Stec

(AP/Chron) Stec Inc., which makes solid-state computer drives, said Tuesday it is being sued by disk-drive maker Seagate Technology LLC for patent infringement.

Read More

US senator says "trying to resuscitate" patent bill

(Reuters) A leading senator said on Wednesday that the troubled patent bill, which has pitted big drug companies against high-tech firms, may be salvageable.

Read More

U.S. patent chief: applications up, quality down

(EE TIMES) The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently received an application seeking a patent for what was claimed to be a better way to stand in line while waiting to use an airplane toilet.

Read More

Cisco blogger dragged into patent lawyer suit

(MarketWatch) A Cisco Systems Inc. employee who authored a controversial blog about so-called "patent trolls" has continued to draw unwanted attention to the company, this time being dragged into a high-profile tussle between a law firm and one of its ousted attorneys.

Read More

The Greening Of Patent Litigation

(Energy-Daily) The Cleantech Group at Heslin Rothenberg Farley and Mesiti P.C. continues to monitor Intellectual Property trends in the Cleantech arena. In addition to its signature Clean Energy Patent Growth Index, the Group has analyzed litigation trends in the clean energy area and has found that litigation has proliferated over the last several years.

Read More

Patent trolls and patent-busters

(ABC News) Once upon a time, Abraham Lincoln famously said that the patent system was intended to secure "to the inventor, for a limited time, the exclusive use of his invention; and thereby added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius, in the discovery and production of new and useful things."

Read More

Apple patent could revolutionize online shopping

(Palluxo) Apple seems to be creating a new way of interaction with with their online store. Their latest patent filing titled "Enhancing Online Shopping Atmosphere" demonstrates Apple's commitment to revolutionize the online shopping experience.

Read More

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

About Us - 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.

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

April 14th, 2008

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Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
April 14th, 2008
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Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles)

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3Com Wins Patent Infringement Trial Against Realtek
Microsoft to Appeal $367M Patent Ruling
Big tech companies accused of overstating patent problems
Closely-watched case may spell trouble for software patents
Patent Bill Loses Key GOP Supporter Over Damage Assessment Language
US Court Denies Dish Patent Appeal
Microsoft  Asks Supreme Court To Look Into Patent Validity
Boeing Patent Shuts Down AMC-14 Lunar Flyby Salvage Attempt

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3Com Wins Patent Infringement Trial Against Realtek

(Business Wire) 3Com Corporation Friday announced that on April 9, 2008, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California awarded the company $45.3 million for past patent infringement by Realtek Semiconductor Corporation 3Com was represented in the case by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP.

Read More

Microsoft to Appeal $367M Patent Ruling

(AP/Missoulian) A jury on Friday ordered Microsoft Corp. to pay $367.4 million to Alcatel-Lucent for infringing on two patents, a decision the software maker vowed to appeal.

Read More

Big tech companies accused of overstating patent problems

(C/Net) A handful of patent lawyers on Friday beat up on large technology companies lobbying for a U.S. patent system revamp, arguing that their efforts could discourage start-ups, prompt foreign competitors to rip off inventions, and tear apart the economy more generally.

Read More

Closely-watched case may spell trouble for software patents

(ARS Technica) Two of the nation's leading civil liberties organizations and a new organization dedicated to the abolition of software patents have all filed amicus briefs in a patent case that could give the courts an opportunity to revisit the issue of software and business method patents. The case involves an application for a patent that would cover "a method for managing the consumption risk costs of a commodity" through a series of financial transactions.

Read More

Patent Bill Loses Key GOP Supporter Over Damage Assessment Language

(LexisNexis) Patrick J. Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, lost the support of a key Republican on Wednesday as he seeks to hash out new language for legislation overhauling the nation's patent laws.

Read More

US Court Denies Dish Patent Appeal

(AP) A federal appeals court said Friday it won't reconsider a ruling favoring TiVo Inc. in its patent dispute with Dish Network Corp.

Read More

Microsoft Asks Supreme Court To Look Into Patent Validity

(Techdirt) Looks like the Supreme Court will have yet another chance to weigh in on patent issues, as it's taken an active interest in the space for a few years now. Microsoft has appealed an appeals court ruling in a patent lawsuit to the Supreme Court. At issue is the standard courts need to use in assessing the validity of a patent.

Read More

Boeing Patent Shuts Down AMC-14 Lunar Flyby Salvage Attempt

(Space-Travel) Attempts to salvage a wayward GEO comsat have come unstuck in the face of institutional disinterest and an aging patent of questionable validity.

Read More

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About Us - 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.

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

April 7th, 2008

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

Patent News Watch

From First to File (www.firsttofile.com)
April 7th, 2008
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Headlines for the week: (Scroll down for articles)

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-Microsoft ordered to pay $367M to Alacatel-Lucent for infringing on 2 patents
-Symantec drops Microsoft lawsuit
-US court reverses ruling for Forest in Caraco suit
-Patent Lawyers Do the Boogie as Court Shoots Down PTO Rules
-Patent Issues a Growing Concern for Banks
-Bush Administration Speaks Against Patent Overhaul
-Organized labor's opposition to patent reform bill could put Democratic senators in tough spot
-Internet, consumer patents rule at auction
-Miami-Dade sued in patent case

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Microsoft ordered to pay $367M to Alacatel-Lucent for infringing on 2 patents

(International Harald Tribune) A jury ordered Microsoft Corp. on Friday to pay $367.4 million (€233.7 million) to Alcatel-Lucent for infringing on two patents, a decision the software maker vowed to appeal.

Read More

Symantec drops Microsoft lawsuit

(The Register) Microsoft and Symantec have agreed to settle a lawsuit filed two years ago over the use of Veritas code in Microsoft products, including Windows Vista.

Read More

US court reverses ruling for Forest in Caraco suit

(Reuters) A federal appeals court reversed on Tuesday a ruling favoring Forest Laboratories Inc in a patent dispute with generic drugmaker Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories over the blockbuster antidepressant drug Lexapro.

Read More

Patent Lawyers Do the Boogie as Court Shoots Down PTO Rules

(The Wall Street Jornal) The patent crowd is an excitable bunch. Whenever a big ruling is handed down, the Law Blog typically receives a few helpful e-mails from lawyers in that practice area giving us their thoughts.

Read More

Patent Issues a Growing Concern for Banks

(Banktech) Patents are one of the issues that hover in the backs of bankers' minds -- they know patents can be important, but seldom do they address the topic unless prompted to do so by a lawsuit, say experts. Unfortunately for the banking industry, legal wrangling around financial services patents is becoming all too common.

Read More

Bush Administration Speaks Against Patent Overhaul

(PCWorld) U.S. Senate negotiators are getting closer to hammering out disagreements that are holding up a patent system overhaul, but President George Bush's administration still has concerns about the bill, an administration official said Friday.

Read More

Organized labor's opposition to patent reform bill could put Democratic senators in tough spot

(AP) The battle over patent reform, a sleepy sounding subject that affects new, cheaper medicines, Chinese counterfeits and BlackBerry addicts, has always sent high-tech companies and drugmakers to their respective corners.

Read More

Internet, consumer patents rule at auction

(CNet) Jonathan Bari didn't seem too nervous until the $725,000 glitch. A woman, taking commands from someone at the other end of her cell phone, had bid $750,000 on the patent portfolio he was selling at the Ocean Tomo IP Auction last week in San Francisco. The patents covered an online authentication system for consumers devised by his old company Catavault.

Read More

Miami-Dade sued in patent case

(Miami Herald) A lawsuit alleges Miami International Airport does not have a licensing agreement to use a patented parking security system that helps to identify stolen cars as they leave the airport's parking lots.

Read More

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

About Us - 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.

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