Pipra IP News

Abbott Files Brief in Therasense Case

dbeb32a77fd66e37a34297fe3e2a53da — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

By Kevin E. Noonan -- The idea of a "golden age," almost always some time in the past, is a recurrent theme in history, literature, and myth. It is also the unspoken theme in Abbott's principal brief filed earlier this week in Therasense Inc. v. Becton Dickinson & Co., and that Golden Age has an exact date: right after the Federal Circuit rendered its en banc decision in Kingsdown Medical Consultants, Ltd. v. Hollister Inc., the last time the Court took up the question of inequitable conduct en banc. In an extensive (59 page) brief, Appellants argue that this case...

USPTO Celebrates One-Year Anniversary of e-Office Action

dbeb32a77fd66e37a34297fe3e2a53da — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

By Sydney Kokjohn -- Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office celebrated the one-year anniversary of its e-Office Action (e-OA) program. So far, the program has electronically notified patent applicants on more than 850,000 Office communications and reduced Patent Office paper usage by more than 9.2 million pages. A pilot version of the program launched in December 2006 and later expanded to include additional USPTO offices (see "USPTO begins the 'e-Office Action' Pilot Program" and "e-Office Action Pilot Program Expansion"). In February of last year, the USPTO announced the pilot e-Office Action program would be made permanent in March....

US Jobs Bill Would Restrict Foreign Access To Patent Applications

def48eb90ed346c0173a29792f9ae491 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

As the jobless rate remain high and budgets tight, United States policymakers increasingly are looking for ways to boost domestic innovation in order to create new jobs and boost the economy. One such bill to be announced tomorrow, called the "Strategic Manufacturing & Job Repatriation Act" aims to develop a national manufacturing strategy to create American jobs, including by lowering access to early patent applications and prioritising university patents.

The Great Firewall of China: When Does Online Censorship Violate WTO Rules?

dc5af4d6ec81f59d7c5b44d55ae249f2 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

China’s government says it is acting in the best interests of its citizens. It is regulating the internet in order to protect its people from pornography and other objectionable content. Critics, however, assert that China is guilty of wide-ranging censorship, drastically limiting what mainland residents can see, hear and say online. Moreover, according to a growing chorus, this online censorship violates World Trade Organization rules.

Reminder: Urgent Call To Support Intellectual Property Watch

b09b1d0155c0a6b4ce7feb6e71bb12d7 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Dear Readers, we at Intellectual Property Watch are writing to politely remind you that the financial support of every one of you is needed this year, especially those of you who have long benefited from our open-access work and have never been asked to contribute. We set a target of end of July, just a few days away. We would like to remind you of the reliable reporting and tough-minded analysis that Intellectual Property Watch brings to a complex area that will certainly continue to be at the centre of global policy and legal debates for years to come, whether your topic is IP law, public health, climate change, food security, trade, internet policy and knowledge access, or innovation.

Global AIDS Conference Sees Pledge Of Access, Call For Funding; IP Rights Discussed

65db6dcdfb4326b7ebfbd14681813bc8 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

The global AIDS community meeting in Vienna last week ended with renewed determination to fight the epidemic but underlined an urgent need for increased funding to sustain scientific advances and universal access. Some warned against an intellectual property rights enforcement push threatening global access in particular through bilateral and regional trade agreements.

USPTO Seeks Comments On Post-Bilski Guidelines

def48eb90ed346c0173a29792f9ae491 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has posted supplemental interim guidance for the patent examining corps to use when determining subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 in light of the US Supreme Court’s holding in Bilski v. Kappos (IPW, IP Law, 29 June 2010). The new guidelines can be found in [...]

Is USPTO 3-Track Plan TRIPS Non-Compliant?

505fb44fb2df070ca0f5c6fb6e20fa7a — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

A new proposal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a “Three Track” system for patent examination may violate US obligations under the World Trade Organization Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement, US IP lawyer Harold Wegner, a partner at Foley & Lardner, has argued. The “Three-Track” programme would provide different [...]

Argentine Patent Office Issues Regulation Restricting Divisional Filings

dbeb32a77fd66e37a34297fe3e2a53da — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

By Ignacio Sanchez Echagüe -- The Argentine Patent Office (Instituto Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial, INPI) has issued Regulation No. 147/2010, which restricts the ability of applicants to file divisional applications once substantive examination has begun. The regulation, which went into effect on July 16, 2010, allows applicants to file divisional applications until notice of substantive examination has been served. No divisional applications will be allowed thereafter, unless they are made in response to a request from the Argentine Patent Office. Once substantive examination has begun, if the examiner finds that the application has more than one object, the applicant...

Mexico to Issue Regulations for Approval of "Biocomparable" Drugs

dbeb32a77fd66e37a34297fe3e2a53da — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

By Juan Serrano -- The Mexican General Health Law was reformed on June 11, 2009 to include an article 222 bis, which defined biotechnological drugs, and allowed for the approval of "biocomparables." The decree came into force on September 8, 2009, and the Ministry of Health had a 180-day period to issue all specific regulations pertaining to the approval of these biocomparables. Even though the 180-day period expired on March 8, 2010, work on the project of regulations has continued, with input being provided by both the Mexican Association of Pharmaceutical Research (AMIIF) and the National Association of Drug Manufacturers...

Review Of US Digital Millennium Copyright Act Brings New Exemptions

5a4e42e4d130ea99c9d8d36bbe3ee374 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

The United States Copyright Office this week completed its statutorily required review of the landmark Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Included in the ruling were three major exemptions: a renewal on the exemption for cell-phone unlocking, a new exemption for the jailbreaking of smart phones technology, and the use of visual media clips for transformative, non-commercial works. The ruling has resulted in a flood of optimism from a wide variety of nongovernmental groups.

Patently-O Patent L.J.: Overlapping Plaintiffs in False Marking Litigation

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

In the newest Patently-O Patent Law Journal publication, Robert Matthews discusses the law controlling false-marking suits when multiple plaintiffs sue for the same act of false marking. Matthews extrapolates the case-law to make two primary points: (1) a false-marking defendant...

US Second Circuit Decision Opens Questions Of Transformative And Fair Use

def48eb90ed346c0173a29792f9ae491 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

A recent US court decision introduces entirely new questions about the balance between a transformative work and a copyright infringement. Furthermore, it places the responsibility of balancing the public interest in freedom of expression against the interests of rights holders squarely in the hands of the court, writes Leslee Friedman.

USPTO Provides Clarification Regarding Treatment of PTA Letters

dbeb32a77fd66e37a34297fe3e2a53da — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

By Donald Zuhn -- Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a notice in the Federal Register (75 Fed. Reg. 42079) to clarify how the Office will treat certain letters submitted by applicants and patentees regarding the Office's patent term adjustment (PTA) determinations. In particular, the notice addresses situations in which an applicant or patentee submits a letter (other than requests for reconsideration under 37 C.F.R. § 1.705) stating that the Office's PTA determination is greater than what the applicant or patentee believes is appropriate. In such situations, the notice states that the Office will no longer review...

WIPO Sees First Real Progress In 10 Years On Text For Protection Of Folklore

505fb44fb2df070ca0f5c6fb6e20fa7a — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Experts meeting last week at the World Intellectual Property Organization made the first real strides in over a decade at developing a concrete rules to protect the cultural expressions and folklore of indigenous and local communities.

Court Report

dbeb32a77fd66e37a34297fe3e2a53da — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

By Sherri Oslick -- About Court Report: Each week we will report briefly on recently filed biotech and pharma cases. Roche Palo Alto LLC et al. v. Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. et al. 1:10-cv-01988; filed July 20, 2010 in the District Court of Maryland • Plaintiffs: Roche Palo Alto LLC; Gilead Palo Alto, Inc.; Gilead Sciences, Inc. • Defendants: Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Lupin Ltd. Roche Palo Alto LLC et al. v. Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. et al. 2:10-cv-03561; filed July 14, 2010 in the District Court of New Jersey • Plaintiffs: Roche Palo Alto LLC; Gilead Palo Alto, Inc.; Gilead Sciences, Inc....

Conference & CLE Calendar

dbeb32a77fd66e37a34297fe3e2a53da — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

July 26-27, 2010 - Advanced Patent Prosecution Workshop 2010: Claim Drafting & Amendment Writing (Practising Law Institute) - New York, NY July 29-31, 2010 - Intensive Patent Law Training Workshop (Chisum Patent Academy) - Seattle, WA August 5-10, 2010 - 2010 ABA Annual Meeting (American Bar Association) - San Francisco, CA August 11, 2010 - "Bilski: Implications of the Supreme Court's Long-Awaited Ruling: Strategies for Prosecuting or Challenging Patent Process Claims Going Forward" (Strafford) - 1:00 - 2:30 PM (EDT) August 16-17, 2010 - Advanced Patent Prosecution Workshop 2010: Claim Drafting & Amendment Writing (Practising Law Institute) - San Francisco,...

ACI Maximizing Pharmaceutical Patent Lifecycles Conference

dbeb32a77fd66e37a34297fe3e2a53da — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

American Conference Institute (ACI) will be holding its 11th Maximizing Pharmaceutical Patent Lifecycles conference on October 6-7, 2010 in New York, NY. The conference will allow attendees to: • Understand how the introduction of biosimilars has profoundly altered pharmaceutical patent life cycle strategies; • Appreciate the relationship between life cycle management, brand optimization and new product development; • See how the Federal Circuit is paving the way for Patent Reform; • Determine when and how secondary patents -- for both small and large molecules should be pursued; • Comprehend how the clear delineation between written description and enablement is influencing...

ACI FDA Boot Camp

dbeb32a77fd66e37a34297fe3e2a53da — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

American Conference Institute (ACI) will be holding the next session of its FDA Boot Camp conference on September 27-28, 2010 in Boston, MA. ACI faculty will help attendees: • Master the complexities of pharmaceutical iP and the regulatory balance between brand name and generic products; • Analyze the future of follow-on biologics following recent health care reform legislation; • Recognize the pivotal role of labeling in the drug and biologics approval process; • Comprehend the structure of the FDA and the roles of the three major agency centers: CDER, CBER, and CDHR; • Understand the basics of the approval processes...

Biotech/Pharma Docket

dbeb32a77fd66e37a34297fe3e2a53da — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

By James DeGiulio -- Teva and Novartis Settle Patent Dispute over Zometa Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. and Novartis Corp. have reached an agreement to settle their patent suit over a generic version of Zometa, a drug used to prevent skeletal fractures. Teva first sent Novartis two Paragraph IV notices on June 10, 2008, claiming that Novartis' U.S. Patent No. 4,939,130 was either invalid, unenforceable, or wouldn't be infringed by Teva's proposed generic. Novartis claimed that Teva had inappropriately sent the Paragraph IV notices before filing its ANDA (see "Court Report," August 3, 2008). Thus, Novartis asked the District Court to...

Guest Post: USPTO Must Amend Examiner Guidelines On Bilski

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

by Paul Craane of Marshall Gerstein & Borun In the wake of Bilski, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has provided unclear, and potentially incorrect, guidance to the Examining Corps regarding the application of 35 U.S.C. 101. The guidance...

Patenting by Entrepreneurs: The Berkeley Patent Survey (Part III of III)

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Guest Post by Robert Merges and Pamela Samuelson, UC Berkeley School of Law; Ted Sichelman, University of San Diego School of Law In our previous post, we discussed some of the major findings from the Berkeley Patent Survey—the most comprehensive...

Patenting by Entrepreneurs: The Berkeley Patent Survey (Part II of III)

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Guest Post by Robert Merges and Pamela Samuelson, UC Berkeley School of Law; Ted Sichelman, University of San Diego School of Law In our previous post, we discussed three major findings from the Berkeley Patent Survey—the most comprehensive survey to...

Patenting by Entrepreneurs: The Berkeley Patent Survey (Part I of III)

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Guest Post by Robert Merges and Pamela Samuelson, UC Berkeley School of Law; Ted Sichelman, University of San Diego School of Law Why do entrepreneurs and startup companies file for patents? Why not? How often do startups acquire patents from...

The Business Method Patent Art Units

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

By Dennis Crouch In prior posts, I noted that the USPTO is issuing patents at an all-time-high-rate. This increase is perhaps most dramatic in the art units that examine applications classified by the USPTO as "business methods." This post explores...

Avid ID v. Crystal Import: En Banc Request Denied On Issue of Inequitable Conduct by ...

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

By Dennis Crouch In Avid ID, the Federal Circuit denied Avid's motion for en banc rehearing on the issue of whether inequitable conduct exists when the non-inventor, non-attorney CEO of a company applying for a patent failed to submit information...

Provisional Patent Applications

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

The number of provisional patent application filings continue to rise. Well over 100,000 provisional patent applications have been filed each of the past five years. For many, provisional applications are seen as a low-cost mechanism for claiming a priority date...

Citing References to the USPTO

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

The chart above shows the average number of prior art references cited per patent, grouped by issue year. The chart is "stacked" with references cited by the examiner at the bottom and references cited by the applicant on-top.

Patents that Exhibit "Potential Vagueness and Suspect Validity"

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

In eBay v. MercExchange (2006), the Supreme Court ruled that an adjudged infringer should only suffer permanent injunctive relief once the traditional four-factor test of equity had been satisfied. This general priciple was recently supported by the non-patent Supreme Court...

Patently-O Bits and Bytes

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Todays Posts: Updated Statistics: Patent Application Pendency Inequitable Conduct: Leviton Manufacturing v. Universal Security Instruments by Jason Rantanen New Contributing Author: Jason Rantanen My friend Jason Rantanen has agreed to become a contributing author on Patently-O for the next few...

Updated Statistics: Patent Application Pendency

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

The above chart shows average application pendency for issued utility patents grouped by issue year. The chart presents three separate series that differ according to the filing-date used in the pendency calculation. The lowest data-series uses a traditional calculation that...

Unreasonable Patent Applicant Delay and the USPTO Backlog

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Over 1.2 million non-provisional patent applications are pending examination at the USPTO. Of those, more than 700,000 have not received even a preliminary examination. The backlog is the source of a tremendous amount of bad publicity for the USPTO. At...

Attorney Fees and Equal Treatment for Plaintiffs and Defendants

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Media Queue v. Netflix (Fed. Cir. 2010) This case involves a classic “improvement patent” scenario. Nick Gross was a longtime Netflix user when he came-up with the idea that the service should provide additional user notifications — such as when...

Requests for Continued Examination Continue to Rise

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

The chart above shows Requests for Continued Examination (and the earlier CPA/R129 processes) as a percentage of the total number of non-provisional patent applications filed each year. Notes: The denominator here does not include RCE filings but does include continuations...

Federal Circuit Extends the Scope of 102(e) "Secret Prior Art"

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

In an important case, the Federal Circuit has expanded the scope of so-called 102(e) “secret prior art.” Under the decision, a US patent or published application will be considered prior art as of the filing date of its qualifying provisional...

Federal Circuit Splits on Validity of Means Plus Function Claim

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Telcordia Technologies, Inc. v. Cisco Systems (Fed. Cir. 2010) Chief Judge Rader and Judge Prost sparred over the level of explanation necessary to ensure that a means plus function (MPF) claim is found definite. The Patent Act (35 U.S.C. 112...

Patently-O Bits and Bytes

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Congressional Action on Patent Reform: Senator Leahy has posted a note on his website (link) criticizing Bilski because it “needlessly left the door open for business method patents to issue in the future, and I am concerned that it will...

Patently-O Readership Survey

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

[Four-Minute ANONYMOUS SurveyMonkey Survey] I understand that Patently-O has perhaps hosted too many surveys over the past few days. However, this survey is the most important one because it impacts my bottom line. I use the results to prove to...

Prep & Pros: Separated by a Backlog

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

The world continues to turn even though several hundred thousand patent applications are sitting examined at the US Patent Office. During this multi-year delay, patent attorneys change jobs, receive promotions, raise billing rates, etc. One bottom line is that the...

Why do Applicants File So Many Requests for Continued Examination?

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Of the patents issued thus far in 2010, more than 25% carry the baggage of a file history with at least one request for continued examination (RCE) and that rate is expected to rise. RCEs are also filed in a...

Bilski v. Kappos and the Anti-State-Street-Majority

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

The 1998 Federal Circuit decision in State Street Bank opened the door to patent protection on a wider variety of innovations — especially in the fields of business methods and software. State Street held that an invention should be patent...

Bilski v. Kappos

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Although Bilski's claims were held unpatentably abstract, the Supreme Court has re-affirmed that the door to patent eligibility should remain broad and open. Bilski v. Kappos (Supreme Court 2010)(08-964) The Supreme Court has issued its opinion in Bilski v. Kappos....

BPAI Review of Obviousness Rejections

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Ex parte Quist (BPAI 2010) (precedential opinion) In only its second precedential opinion of 2010, the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) has further developed its procedures for its review of obviousness rejections and consideration of evidence of nonobviousness....

Employee and Officer Liability for Inducing Infringement

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

By Jason Rantanen, Visiting Scholar at UC Hastings School of Law Wordtech Systems, Inc. v. Integrated Networks Solutions, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2010) In most patent cases, companies are the ones sued as alleged infringers. But sometimes individuals—particularly corporate officers—are also...

Business Method Patents: Insurance Companies Fighting over Patented Annuity Plans

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Lincoln National Life Insurance Co. v. Transamerica Life Insurance Co. (Fed. Cir. 2010) It is not unusual to see insurance companies in litigation. What is unusual here is that the context is patent infringement. Lincoln is pursuing Transamerica and others...

Patently-O Bits and Bytes

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

Thank you Sponsors: The Patently-O Home Page continues with the exclusive sponsorship of the law firm of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP. Patently-O Jobs has a new sponsor: Patent Attorney Allen Black. Black joins long-time job-board sponsor Franklin Pierce...

Patent Prosecution Highway

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

The USPTO is quickly moving forward with its Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) and applicants may want to consider whether it is time to jump aboard. The PPH is based on a series of bi-lateral (and multi-lateral) agreements between the various...

Bilski v. Kappos

6d450fea45f4b8aeb9d76360b4babc41 — Thu, 29 Jul 10 12:34:33 +0000

There is a good chance that the Supreme Court will issue a decision in Bilski v. Kappos later this morning. Supreme Court specialist Tom Goldstein writes hopefully: “The longest-outstanding case is Bilski, the business methods patent case. It has likely...

Pipra IP News

Abbott Files Brief in Therasense Case

USPTO Celebrates One-Year Anniversary of e-Office Action

US Jobs Bill Would Restrict Foreign Access To Patent Applications

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The Great Firewall of China: When Does Online Censorship Violate WTO Rules?

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Reminder: Urgent Call To Support Intellectual Property Watch

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Global AIDS Conference Sees Pledge Of Access, Call For Funding; IP Rights Discussed

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USPTO Seeks Comments On Post-Bilski Guidelines

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Is USPTO 3-Track Plan TRIPS Non-Compliant?

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Argentine Patent Office Issues Regulation Restricting Divisional Filings

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Court Report

Conference &amp; CLE Calendar

ACI Maximizing Pharmaceutical Patent Lifecycles Conference

ACI FDA Boot Camp

Biotech/Pharma Docket

Guest Post: USPTO Must Amend Examiner Guidelines On Bilski

Patenting by Entrepreneurs: The Berkeley Patent Survey (Part III of III)

Patenting by Entrepreneurs: The Berkeley Patent Survey (Part II of III)

Patenting by Entrepreneurs: The Berkeley Patent Survey (Part I of III)

The Business Method Patent Art Units

Avid ID v. Crystal Import: En Banc Request Denied On Issue of Inequitable Conduct by ...

Provisional Patent Applications

Citing References to the USPTO

Patents that Exhibit &quot;Potential Vagueness and Suspect Validity&quot;

Patently-O Bits and Bytes

Updated Statistics: Patent Application Pendency

Unreasonable Patent Applicant Delay and the USPTO Backlog

Attorney Fees and Equal Treatment for Plaintiffs and Defendants

Requests for Continued Examination Continue to Rise

Federal Circuit Extends the Scope of 102(e) &quot;Secret Prior Art&quot;

Federal Circuit Splits on Validity of Means Plus Function Claim

Patently-O Bits and Bytes

Patently-O Readership Survey

Prep &amp; Pros: Separated by a Backlog

Why do Applicants File So Many Requests for Continued Examination?

Bilski v. Kappos and the Anti-State-Street-Majority

Bilski v. Kappos

BPAI Review of Obviousness Rejections

Employee and Officer Liability for Inducing Infringement

Business Method Patents: Insurance Companies Fighting over Patented Annuity Plans

Patently-O Bits and Bytes

Patent Prosecution Highway

Bilski v. Kappos

Mexico to Issue Regulations for Approval of "Biocomparable" Drugs

Conference & CLE Calendar

Patents that Exhibit "Potential Vagueness and Suspect Validity"

Federal Circuit Extends the Scope of 102(e) "Secret Prior Art"

Prep & Pros: Separated by a Backlog