Here is IP Think Tank’s weekly
selection of top intellectual property news breaking in the blogosphere and
internet.
Please join the discussion by adding your comments on any of these stories,
and please do let me know if you think we’ve missed something important, or if
there is a source you think should be monitored.
You can separately subscribe to the IP Thinktank Global week in Review at http://thinkipstrategy.com/subscribe/
Highlights this week included:
- EU
wants 95 year copyright on recordings: (IPKat),
(Ars
Technica), (Intellectual
Property Watch), (IP
Law360), - Harvard
Arts and Sciences Faculty decides to allow open access to research: (Techdirt), (Michael Geist), (Ars
Technica), (Against
Monopoly), - Summary
judgment hearing 8 Feb: Tafas & GSK v Dudas concerning
implementation of the USPTO’s new examination rules: (Patently-O),
(PLI),
(Patent
Prospector), (Patent
Baristas), (IP
Law360), (Peter
Zura’s 271 Patent Blog), (Post-Grant),
Global
Global –
General
- US-Antigua gambling
dispute highlights defect in WTO dispute settlement system: (IP
Justice), - Turning TRIPS on its
head: cross retaliation at the WTO: (Spicy
IP), - Candidates for WIPO
Director General: (IPKat),
(Innovationpartners),
(IPKat),
(WIPO),
(Intellectual
Property Watch), (Afro-IP); (More from Intellectual
Property Watch), - Stretching IP rights into
new areas – genius or misuse?: (IP
ThinkTank), - Michael Geist:
presentation on open access, focusing on why adopting open access models
can help counter restrictive contractual terms and copyright laws: (Michael Geist), - Audacity – Sometimes
sheer audacity can overcome superior forces, or a well-entrenched
position: (IP
ThinkTank), - Presentation on IPR and
professional opportunities for advocates and chartered accountants: (Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP), - Grand (IP) strategy: (IP ThinkTank),
(Response – Grand strategy and open content licences – opencontentlawyer.com) - Policymaking on trade and
IP faces mixed prospects in 2008: (Intellectual
Property Watch), - Film finance without risk
to IP rights?: (IP
finance),
Global – Trade
Marks / Domain Names / Brands
- ICANN supports Google’s
fight against domain-tasting: (Class
46),
Global – Patents
- Software patents and
startup innovators: (Technological
Innovation and Intellectual Property), - Co-inventor: yes or no?:
(IPBiz), - Eco-patent commons meets
open innovation: (Securing
Innovation), - Settle the patent
infringement case by selling your company?: (IP
ADR Blog)
Global – Copyright
- Motion Picture
Association’s Operation Blackout, targeting illegal recording of movies –
A step ahead. A step behind: (Spicy
IP), - Proposals for ISPs to
terminate infringers go (even more) global: (LawFont.com), - Five ways to minimize
risk of copyright liability from citizen media: (IP
ADR Blog),
Pharma & Biotech
Pharma & Biotech – General
- Millennium
Pharmaceuticals spent $1.28 million on lobbying for patent reform and biologics
legislation in 2007: (Patent
Docs), - New Thai Minister may
review compulsory licences on cancer drugs: (Intellectual
Property Watch), (IP
Law360), (Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP); (more from Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP), - Is the Indian drug
industry scared of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority?: (Spicy
IP), - USD 20 billion going
off-patent: (Patent
Circle), - Canadian Prices Review
Board asserts jurisdiction over products sold in US, but imported into Canada
under Special Access Program: (Gowlings), - Canadian Court of Appeal
affirms decision allowing patent-owner to be joined to proceedings: Cobalt
v Pfizer and Pharmascience v Pfizer: (Gowlings), - PharmaStem appeals stem
cell patent: asks for greater deference to patent examiners: PharmaStem
Therapeutics v ViaCell: (Patently-O) - US: lawmakers, administration
to craft proposal giving FDA authority over generic biotechnology drugs: (genericsweb),
(California
Biotech Law Blog), - Indian Pharma companies
entering into collaborations with foreign drug discovery: (Spicy
IP), - EU pharma probe expected
to veer from FTC course: (IP
Law360), - The pharmaceutical sector
in Zimbabwe Research and Markets survey: (Afro-IP), - Insmed announces national
awareness campaign for follow-on biologics: (Patent
Docs), - Origin of fake malaria
medicine traced to China:
(IP
Dragon), - Mail-box applications
pending with Indian Patent Office for most of the gliptins: (Part I – Patent
Circle), (Part II – Patent
Circle) - “IP and the
transformation of generic supply”: (Spicy
IP), - “BRICS and their Role in
Access to Essential Medicines”: (Spicy
IP), - Patent reform in the USA, happy pharma companies in India:
(Spicy
IP), - Generics capture 65% of
US markets as costs rise: (genericsweb) - Kenyan
consumers at highest risk of fake drugs: (Afro-IP)
Pharma & Biotech – Products
- Cipro (Ciprofloxacin) –
Canadian Court of Appeal upholds decision issuance of a Notice of
Compliance to Sandoz: Bayer Healthcare v Sandoz: (Gowlings), - Clarinex (Desloratadine)
– Schering files lawsuit against Anchen, adding to their multi
jurisdictional litigation concerning Clarinex: (IP
Law360), - Fosamax (Alendronate) – Hague
District Court nullifies Dutch patent for once-weekly dosage regimen and
grants obviousness declaratory judgment: (IPKat) - Imitrex (Sumatriptan) –
Aurobindo Pharma receives tenatative approval from USFDA for generic
version of GSK’s Imitrex: (Therapeutics
Daily), - Intelence (Etravirine) –2nd ARV drug to get patent protection in India: (Spicy
IP), (Patent
Circle), (Patent
Circle), - Lipitor (Atorvastatin) –
Canadian Federal Court finds Pfizer’s Lipitor patent to be invalid based
on invalid selection and double patenting: (Gowlings), - Lotrel
(Amlodipine/benazepril) – Novartis files 2nd patent suit in the US against Teva over generic version of Lotrel: (IP
Law360), - Paxil (Paroxetine) – No
second bite at federal apple for GSK in the antitrust case brought against
them by Blue Cross Shield regarding Paxil: (43(B)log), - Plavix (Clopidogrel) –
Sanofi threatens Cadila and BioScience with suit over supply of generic
Plavix despitecompulsory licence issued by Thailand: (Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP), - Prexige (Lumiracoxib) –
Indian patent granted for Novartis’ anti-inflamatory drug, Lumiracoxib: (Patent
Circle), - Protonix (Pantoprazole) –
Wyeth sues Apotex for patent infringement over injectable Protonix ANDA: (IP
Law360), - Provigil (Modafinil) – USFTC
files lawsuit against Cephalon alleging Cephalon paid off four potential
generic competitors to keep them out of the US market for Provigil: (IP
Law360), (Philip
Brooks), (genericsweb), - Seroquel (Quetiapine) –
AstraZeneca seeks summary judgment against Teva: (IP
Law360), (Therapeutics
Daily), - Stalevo (Levodopa) –
Orion sues Sun in US for infringement of patent covering Stalevo: (genericsweb),
(IP
Law360), - Tarceva (Erlotinib) –
CIPLA’s latest action seeking to revoke Roche’s Indian Tarceva patent is
largely based on pricing and availability of the drug: (Spicy
IP), - Valcyte (Valganciclovir) –
Ranbaxy files post-grant opposition for Roche’s Indian patent for Valganciclovir,
questioning validity on ground of enhanced efficacy: (Patent
Circle), (Spicy
IP), (Generic
Pharmaceuticals & IP)
Africa
- South
African Gap trade mark litigation: (Afro-IP), - South Africa launches initiative to grant extended protection to
traditional knowledge: (Afro-IP), - Business
development consultant accuses Ghana government of theft of project idea: (Afro-IP), - “No
development without technological development”, says Ethiopian PM: (Afro-IP), - South
African GOATS DO ROAM v French COTES DU RHONE: (Afro-IP)
Australia
- TMO
to suspend ‘Purple’ opposition pending final determination of a related
passing-off proceeding in the Federal Court: (Australian
Trade Marks Law Blog), - Two
Australian real estate agents sue Google for linking to an allegedly defamatory
article about them: (Techdirt), - IP
Australia announces forthcoming release of AusPat, new search system for
Australian patents: (IP
Down Under), - IP
counterfeiting in Australia:
(LawFont.com),
Canada
- Canadian
DMCA: Prentice’s failure to communicate: (Michael Geist), - Canadian
Association of Broadcasters joins copyright reform debate: (Michael Geist), - A
successful interlocutory injunction: Marlborough Hotel Corporation et al v
First Canadian Hotels & Entertainment Ltd: (Canadian
Trademark Blog), - Article by Howard Knopf on the legal implications (or
non-implications) of Canada having signed the WIPO Internet treaties: (Michael Geist), - Canadian Library Association launches copyright
advocacy kit: (Michael
Geist), - US Copyright Lobby complains about Canadian
copyright: (Michael
Geist), - No one likes a bully: The International
Intellectual Property Alliance and Canada: (Patry
Copyright Blog), (response to Patry’s post at LawFont.com), - ESA, IIPA slam Canada for not fixing copyright
“deficiencies”: (Ars
Technica), (IPKat), - Business Coalition for balanced copyright speaks
out against DMCA: (Michael
Geist), (Techdirt),
(IP
Justice), - Net
giants, ISPs fear Canadian DMCA, seek copyright balance: (Ars
Technica), - Canadian
DMCA on hold?: (Michael
Geist), - Alleged
copyright pirate, Gérémi Adam, does not appear in court to answer charges: (ipblog.ca)
China
- China IP: Ya want damages? I got low damages and here’s
why: (China
Law Blog), - Registering
a trade mark in China:
(Ezine
@rticles), - Chinese
plaintiff wins patent infringement case against French defendant: (International
Law Office), - Catherine
Sun debunks misconceptions about Chinese IP protection: (IP
Dragon)
Denmark
- Pirate Bay to IFPI: Danish ban has led to even more traffic: (Ars
Technica),
Europe
- The patenting paradox:
despite dramatic increase in patents filed each year, the majority are not
used: (IPEG), - EPO
on key points of London Agreement: (BLOG@IP::JUR), - New
European patent court proposals look like bad news for trolls: (IAM), - EU
Commissioner predicts much tougher data protection laws: (Ars
Technica), - EU
Commission to launch another patent consultation this summer : (BLOG@IP::JUR), - Microsoft
raises IP rights as late defence in European case: (Intellectual Property
Watch) - Europe
agrees to data share with Japan in anti-piracy deal: (Out-Law), - OHIM
statistics updated to include new data for 2008: (Class
46), - New
alcohol labeling regulation published: of note is Article 23 on relation
between trade marks and geographical indications: (Class
46), - ECJ
will soon deliver decision on “Parmesan” designation, putting an end to the
five-year battle between the European Commission and the Federal Republic of
Germany over the protection enjoyed by the genuine Italian cheese in European
Community countries: (Class
46), - Intel
raided for a second time in Commission antitrust probe: (Out-Law), (Ars
Technica), - European
Commission launches InnoSME initiative, which aims to increase participation of
SMEs from newer member states in European RTD activities: (IPR-Helpdesk), - Coexistence
of GIs: (Class
46), (IP
Updates), - ECJ
limit on free movement of DVDs: Dynamic Medien v Avides Media: (IPKat), - EU
wants 95 year copyright on recordings: (IPKat),
(Ars
Technica), (Intellectual
Property Watch), (IP
Law360), - European
Commission to consult on whether to change current controversial surcharge on
devices or storage media which hold music or video: (Out-Law), (Intellectual Property
Watch), - Turkey signs agreement to participate in EU
Competitiveness and Innovation Programme: (IPR-Helpdesk)
France
- French
court finds bookmakers Unibet and William Hill infringed Juventus football club
trade mark whilst promoting bets on a Champion League match between Juventus
and Real Madrid: (Class
46)
Germany
- DENIC:
Latest top level domain statistics: (Class
46)
India
- Music
concerts in anti-piracy mode: (Spicy
IP), - Chikan
to be protected as a GI: (Spicy
IP), - Bajaj v TVS
patent dispute: (Spicy
IP), - Cadila
HealthCare files suit against Dabur India for use of its trademark
“Sugar Free” in the marketing of Dabur’s Sugar Free Chyawanprakash: (Spicy
IP), - Traditional
medicine not to get 5 year data protection: (Spicy
IP), - Recommendation
of Traditional Medicine Group to Knowledge Commission: (Spicy
IP), - Court
allows republication of Oriya Lexicon following legal challenge from the late
author’s family: (Spicy
IP), - Proposed
amendments to copyright law: (International
Law Office), - OPEN
BOOK SOCIETY: Providing easy access to academic writing: (Spicy
IP), - Kerala
farmer granted Indian patent for ‘Tender coconut wine’: (Spicy
IP), - India and Pakistan battle over India ‘s
attempts to get GI protection for Pashmina: (Spicy
IP), - Technology
Transfer Group of IIT Kharagpur to create database of research initiatives to ensure
that technologies developed are commercialised: (Spicy
IP), - The
words “Indian” and “National” to be used only by government institutions: (Spicy
IP), - Are
Indian software firms innovative?: (Spicy
IP), - GIs,
traditional handicrafts and incentives for individual innovators: (Spicy
IP)
Israel
- Israel
Justice Ministry drafting amendment to automatically publish applications 18
months after filing: (IP
Factor), - Google
sued over user-generated Google Earth content in Israel: (Techdirt)
Korea
- Koreans
announce $3 billion patent licensing deficit: (IAM), - Korea pays US $5 billion in patent royalties: (IP
finance)
Malaysia
- New
anti-piracy hologram sticker issued: (International
Law Office)
Malta
- GreenPak
Ltd launches trade mark infringement action against Green.MT Ltd over alleged
use of a confusingly similar trade mark: (Class
46)
Singapore
- Tiger
trade mark dispute between Britannia Industries and Groupe Danone expected to
come before Singapore Court this week: (Spicy
IP)
United Kingdom
- Queen
Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute (QMIPRI) hosting its inaugural
annual conference, 18
February 2008, London:
(IPKat), - UKTMO
invalidates MASALA as merely descriptive: (Spicy
IP), - UKIPO:
New test for business model patentability produces same results: (IP
Updates), - According to Nominet, country code top level
domain names are not necessarily less reputable than generic top level domains:
(Class
46), - Celebrity solicitor trade marks his nickname “Mr
Loophole”: (Class
46), - UK government to introduce law requiring ISPs to block illegal downloaders, according
to leak: (Out-Law),
(IPKat),
(Ars
Technica), (Techdirt), - Privacy lawyers warn victims of Government data
loss that the success of compensation claims is very unlikely: (Out-Law), - UK Patent Party must face up to its copyright
test: (IAM), - UKIPO changes position on software
patents: (IMPACT),
(Out-Law), (IP
Law360), - UK constitution?: (twitchgamer.net),
United States
US General
- Plagiarism:
‘Sampling and borrowing’ in the legal sphere [?]: (IPBiz), - Top
IP law issues for 2008: (Philip
Brooks), - Sentencing
for IP crimes doubles in the US according to report: (IP
Law360), - Bush
Administration spending more taxpayer money on intellectual property
prosecutions: (Techdirt), - Case
law copies (free): (The
Invent Blog), (Copyfight), - Intellectual
property: the China threat teleconference – 19, 26
Feb 2008 : (Philip
Brooks), - New
net neutrality bill surfaces in House: (Ars
Technica), - Trade
secret litigation to rise as economy dips: (IP
Law360), - Study:
“Tough” IP enforcement not only keeps competitors in check, but also your
employees: (Peter
Zura’s 271 Patent Blog), - New
USPTO-PAC members: (IP
Updates)
US Patent Reform
- Special
Masters and the Patent Reform Act of 2007: (Philip
Brooks), - Patent
Office professionals oppose Patent Reform Bill: (Securing
Innovation), (Ars
Technica), - USPTO
management and workers agree: s1145 on patent reform is flawed: (IP
Biz) - Discussion
of whether patent reform will proceed, and if so how soon: (IPBiz),
(IPBiz), - Reports
on progress and coverage of patent reform: (Chicago
IP Litigation Blog), - Is
Charter Communications telling it ‘like it is’ on patent reform?: (IPBiz), - BIO
report finds little empirical evidence to support calls for patent reform: (Holman’s
Biotech IP Blog), (Patent
Docs), - BIO
CEO provides update on patent reform and follow-on biologics legislation: (Part
I – Patent
Docs),· - US
Small Business Alliance on first-to-invent to first-to-file conversion: (IP
Factor), - Coalition
for 21st Century Patent Reform pays Akin Gump $1.2 million for
assistance in lobbying for patent reform: (Patent
Prospector), - Patent
reform could protect Data Treasury defendants: (IP
Law360), (Patently-O),
(Patent
Prospector), (Against
Monopoly), - Senate
Patent Reform Bill delayed until April: (IP
Updates)
US Copyright
- House
passes Higher Education Bill with file-sharing warning: (Public Knowledge), (Techdirt), - As
evidence of piracy weakens, House passes overbearing ‘campus digital theft
prevention’ requirements: (Electronic
Frontier Foundation), - Columbia
Law School – Fair use conference: (Paul
Goldstein on copyright in context – 43(B)log),
(Statutory factors reconsidered – 43(B)log),
(Beyond fair use – 43(B)log),
(Transformative
use – 43(B)log), (Transformativeness: my bit – 43(B)log),
(Transformativeness panel Q& A – 43(B)log) - Copyright
in letters: (Patry
Copyright Blog), - New
York Times article criticizes copyright extensions: (IP
Updates), - Senator
Specter introduces Bill creating exception in copyright law for “houses of
worship” following NFL stopping church Superbowl parties: (Techdirt), (Patry
Copyright Blog), - Harvard
Arts and Sciences Faculty decides to allow open access to research: (Techdirt), (Michael Geist), (Ars
Technica), (Against
Monopoly), - With
a death in Congress, an IP shakeup looks likely: (Ars
Technica), - Microsoft
survey of teenagers’ views on piracy: (Ars
Technica), - Microsoft
copyright education program for youths: (Techdirt),
(Spicy
IP), (IP
Justice), - Is
a photograph a derivative work of the object in the photo? (response to earlier
posting on Patry
Copyright Blog): (Techdirt), - Quotes
from judges who aren’t swayed by flimsy RIAA ‘evidence’: (Techdirt), - US government, copyright industry continue to push for
stronger enforcement: (Intellectual
Property Watch), - Is
selling a CD you found in the trash copyright infringement? (response to
earlier posting on Patry
Copyright Blog): (Techdirt),
US Patents
- Patent
litigation statistics for January 2008: (Patent
Troll Tracker), - Sitrick v. Dreamworks creates uncertainty regarding enablement requirement:
(Patent
Prospector), - Older
Manuals of Patent Examining Procedure now available on USPTO website: (IP
Updates), (Patent
Docs), (Patent
Librarian’s Notebook), - Protecting
directors, officers from exposure to patent infringement damages: (Intellectual
Property Law Blog), - PLI’s
John White discusses Tafas/GSK v Dudas: (Patent
Docs), - Summary
judgment hearing 8 Feb: Tafas & GSK v Dudas concerning
implementation of the USPTO’s new examination rules: (Patently-O),
(PLI),
(Patent
Prospector), (Patent
Baristas), (IP
Law360), (Peter
Zura’s 271 Patent Blog), (Post-Grant), - Improper
final rejections and suggestions for avoiding them (and hopefully the expense
of having to request their withdrawal): (Patentably Defined), - USPTO
electronic filing presented from a law firm perspective: (IP
Updates), - USPTO
News: Director announces USPTO budget proposal: (Patent
Docs), - MPEP
section 2141 on obviousness – any examples of how this is being applied?: (Patently-O), - Innovation Alliance study
of jury damage verdicts in patent cases from Jan 2005 to Nov 2007: (Patent
Prospector), - Google
Patents now includes US published applications and patents through to end of
2007: (Patent
Librarian’s Notebook), (The
Invent Blog), - Exposure/defense
cost ratio relatively high for patent litigation: (IP
Updates), - USPTO
news: Enhancement of PDX program and declaration form: (Patent
Docs), - Damages
in US patent cases not out of control, new report claims: (IAM), - Put
teeth in your patent: only claim what you’ve enabled: (Intellectual
Property Directions)
US Trademarks
- Fraud:
the ‘F’ word trade mark owners should avoid: (IP
Law360), - NORMANDIE
CAMEMBERT not registrable for cheese by Cheezhwse.com: (IP
Updates), - Gone
in 60 milliseconds: Trade mark law and cognitive science: (43(B)log), - Fees,
statutory damages don’t mix in 9 th Circuit: (IP
Law360), - The
Federal Trademark Dilution Revision Act in its first year: (IP
Law360)
US – Companies / Entities
- Advanced
Micro Devices –Silicon Graphics wins on patent validity but drops patent claims
in its legal battle with Advanced Micro Devices: (IP
Law360), (Philip
Brooks), - Al
Minor & Assoc – Ohio Supreme Court finds former employee Robert Martin’s
use of client information from memory violates state’s trade secret laws: (IP
Updates), (Patent
Baristas), - Alliant
– California Court of Appeal upholds preliminary injunction against former
employee of Alliant in its trade secrets case: (IP
Law360), - Apple
– Acacia subsidiary Restricted Spending Solutions files patent infringement
lawsuit against Apple over iTunes allowances: (Ars
Technica), (Patent
Troll Tracker), (Techdirt), - Applied
Interact – District Court grants Applied Interact’s motion to strike Continental
Airlines’ inequitable conduct defence under FRCP Rule 12 due to insufficient
pleading: (IP
Updates), - Automotive
Technologies International – Automotive Technologies files patent infringement suit
against General Motors, Nissan North America, Ford Motor Company, Volvo,
Hyundai Motor America, Mercedes Benz USA and Fuji Heavy Industries USA, over
auto safety products: (IP
Law360), - Bayer
CropScience – Bayer files lawsuit against Control Solutions and Frick Services
alleging infringement of its insecticide fertilizer mix patent: (IP
Law360), - Belkin
– ITC clears Belkin of infringing ATEN International’s patent for technology
that allows multiple computers to be controlled from a single switch: (IP
Law360), - Billingnetwork
– Billingnetwork files patent infringement lawsuit against several health care
billing software providers, after fending off legal action from two other
companies regarding the same patent: (IP
Law360), - Boston Scientific – Medtronic and Boston Scientific
request rehearing of their appeal of a jury verdict of infringement of Cordis
Corp’s coronary stent patents: (IP
Law360), - Boston
Scientific – Radiologist, Dr Bruce N Saffran, wins $423 million award in patent
infringement case against Boston Scientific over stent technology: (IP
Law360), (EDTexweblog.com),
(Patent
Prospector), (PLI),
(IP
ADR Blog), - BrainLAB
– Following affirmation of lower court’s dismissal of Medtronic’s patent
infringement suit, Judge grants German health products manufacturer BrainLAB
Inc.’s request for legal fees: (IP
Law360), - Dell
– Federal Judge enters final judgment against Dell after jury finds
Alcatel-Lucent did not infringe Dell’s method patents for managing customer and
product information online: (IP
Law360), (Patent
Prospector), - Edwards
Lifesciences –Edwards Lifesciences Corp. steps up patent infringement claims
against rival CoreValve Inc. by adding US suit to pending infringement claims
in Europe: (IP
Law360), - Egyptian Godess – Amicus briefs filed in Egyptian
Godess v Swisa (en banc): appeal focuses on whether ‘point of novelty’
should be a test for infringement of a design patent, and whether claim
construction should apply to design patents: (Patently-O), - Energy Transportation Group – Energy
Transportation Group wins $31 million verdict against Demant and Widex for
infringement of hearing aid technology patents: (IP
Law360), - eSpeed
– Judge denies defendants’ motion for new trial of damages on condition that
plaintiff, Trading Technologies, accepts remittitur of eSpeed’s portion of
damages: (Chicago
IP Litigation Blog), (IP
Law360), - Ford:
Court refuses to pierce corporate veil of Plutus, Orion, Taurus, and
Spangenberg without better evidence in patent case Taurus IP v Ford, Mazda
and Volvo: (Patently-O),
(Patent
Troll Tracker), - FormFactor
– Federal Judge stays patent dispute between FormFactor Inc. and Micronics
Japan Co. over wafer probe cards pending outcome of ITC antitrust investigation
involving the cards: (IP
Law360), - Google
– Paid Search Engine Tools files patent infringement suit against Google and
Microsoft over paid advertisement service: (IP
Law360), - H&R
Block – H&R Block Tax Services accuses Jackson Hewitt Tax Services of
infringing two patents with products and services related to loading clients’
refund anticipation loan proceeds into a prepaid Visa card: (IP
Law360), - Hewlett
Packard – HP’s patent counterclaims against Tandberg dwindle to one in the
dispute relating to magnetic tapes: (IP
Law360), - Hologic
– Tissue Extraction Services files suit against Hologic and a subsidiary,
alleging that a line of breast biopsy systems infringe their recently issued
patent: (IP
Law360), - Honeywell
– Eastern District of Texas
Federal Court finds in favour of the defendant,
Honeywell, due to plaintiff, PureChoice’s indefinite patent claims: (EDTexweblog.com), - Implicit
Networks – Implicit Networks sues Advanced Micro Devices, NVIDIA Corp, Intel
Corp, Raza Microelectonics, RealNetworks and Sun Microsystems for allegedly
infringing patent for interpreting electronic data packets: (IP
Law360), - IXYS
Corp – IXYS wins final judgment in patent dispute with International Rectifier
Corporation over switching devices: (Peter
Zura’s 271 Patent Blog), (IP
Law360), (IP
Updates), (IP
Updates), (Patently-O), - Kinetic
Concepts: ED of Texas Court grants Bluesky Medical Group’s motion to transfer
patent case brought against it: (EDTexwblog.com), - Lennon
– Yoko Ono sues band named Lennon for trade mark dilution: (IP
Factor), (Techdirt),
(Class
46), - Macke
– Court refuses to pierce corporate veil because Weschler failed to prove that
Macke’s set up was ‘just a sham’ in patent dispute between the companies: (Patently-O), - Microsoft
– Microsoft and Lucent both denied motions in patent dispute over digital video
signal decoding technology used in Microsoft’s Windows and Xbox 360 products: (IP
Law360), - Microsoft
– Could Microsoft compete with Google while remaining true to its IP roots?: (IAM), - Monsanto
– CAFC upholds Monsanto’s soybean gene patent against farmer and awards damages
to Monsanto: Monsanto v David: (Post-Grant),
(IP
Updates), (Patent
Baristas), - MLB
Advanced Media – CAFC orders lower court to reopen discovery to gather evidence
on whether head of DDB, Mr Barstow’s invention fell within the scope of his
employment agreement with MLB: (Patently-O),
(Patent
Prospector), (IP
Law360), (IP
Updates), (PLI), - N-Data
– FTC votes 3-2 to accept a settlement with Negotiated Data Solutions LLC
(N-Data): (IP
Law360), - Network-1
– Network-1 files lawsuit against Cisco, Netgear and other ethernet companies
for allegedly infringing patent for powering network devices: (IP
Law360), - Nichia
Corp – After federal jury found Seoul Semiconductor liable for willfully
infringing Nicha’s design patents, a judge has determined that a permanent
injunction against the company is unnecessary: (IP
Law360), - Nuijten
– CAFC denies en banc rehearing – decision of non-patentability for signal
claims stands: In Re Petrus A.C.M. Nuijten: (Peter
Zura’s 271 Patent Blog), (Patently-O),
(Patent Prospector),
(IP
Updates), (Anticipate
This!), (IP
Updates), - Panasonic
– Lonestar Inventions files another infringement lawsuit over its patent for a
high capacitance structure in a semiconductor, this time against Matsushita
Electric Industrial Co., Ltd and its subsidiary Panasonic Corp: (IP
Law360), - Power
Distribution Inc – Poor litigation conduct results in award of attorneys fees
in dispute with Thomas & Betts Power Solutions: (Peter
Zura’s 271 Patent Blog), - Presstek
– Presstek files complaint with ITC against Israeli-based VIM Technologies over
VIMs Di-R waterless processless thermal plate rolls into the US: (IP
Factor), - RIAA – gets names after Oklahoma State University threatened with contempt in file-sharing copyright case: (Ars
Technica), - Rembrandt
– Novartis unit CIBA Vision Corp ordered to pay $41 million for allegedly
violating Rembrandt’s patent for treatment that allows users to wear their
contact lenses for extended periods: (IP
Law360), (Patent
Prospector), - Se-Kure
Controls – Court orders production of communications between opinion counsel
and trial counsel related to patent in suit in Se-Kure Controls, Inc v Diam
USA, Inc: (Chicago
IP Litigation Blog), - Se-Kure
Controls – Court allows patent law expert to opine regarding Patent Office
procedures and what would have been material to a reasonable patent examiner in
Se-Kure Controls, Inc v Vanguard Prods Group Inc: (Chicago
IP Litigation Blog), - Smith
& Nephew – Smith & Nephew invalidates three claims of Synthes USA ’s
bone plating system patent: (IP
Law360),
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