IP Think Tank Global Week in Review – 25 January 2008

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://feeds.feedburner.com/DuncanBucknellsGlobalWeekInReview

Highlights this week included:

• Chinese company Zhongyi
  Electronic sues Microsoft for alleged patent infringement relating to
  technology that converts Roman characters to Chinese characters: (Jurist),
  (China Hearsay), (IP
  Dragon),
• US Patent reform and
  surrounding controversy: general commentary and opinions: (Patent
  Baristas), (IPBiz),
  (IPBiz),
  (IPBiz),
  (Patent
  Docs), (Washington
  State Patent Law Blog), (Patent
  Docs), (Patent
  Docs), (Patent
  Prospector), (Patent
  Baristas),
• Tarceva (Erlotinib) –
  Roche patent infringement action against CIPLA before Delhi High Court
  over Tarceva patent: (Spicy
  IP), (Patent
  Circle), (21 Jan update – Spicy
  IP), (22 Jan update – Spicy
  IP), (Generic
  Pharmaceuticals & IP), (24 Jan update – Spicy
  IP), (Patent
  Circle),

Global

• Funhouse mirror:
  distorting the perception of patents: (Patent
  Prospector),
• What to do with orphan
  IP?: (IP
  ThinkTank),
• Who owns your IP – who
  should?: (IP
  ThinkTank),
• IBM patents and defensive
  publishing: (Securing
  Innovation),
• Stockholm Network paper
  on developing nations and pharmaceutical patents: (IPcentral
  Weblog),
• Good and bad news for the
  IP industry if recession does bite: (IAM),
• Business Software Alliance: Piracy
  economic impact is tens of billions of dollars: (Ars
  Technica),
• IP portfolio costs – when
  less is more: (IP
  ThinkTank),
• IP protection: Competitive
  market default: (The
  Fire of Genius),
• Creative Commons licences
  are useful but oversold: (Dilanchian),
• OECD releases new
  research on emerging national innovation practices in member countries: (IPcentral)

Pharma

• EC’s pharma sector inquiry
  over misuse of patents: (IPKat),
  (IP
  Law360), (more from IP
  Law360), (Mondaq),
• FDC Reports launches
  PharmaAsiaNews.com to capture pharma news from India, China and Japan: (Spicy
  IP),
• GSK letter to Senators
  Leahy and Specter regarding the Senate Judiciary Report on the Patent
  Reform Bill: (PLI),
  (Patent
  Prospector), (IP
  Law360),
• Indian government to weed
  out ‘irrational’ patent and proprietary drugs: (Spicy
  IP), (Medindia.com),
• Recommended reading:
  Economic Times article on patents in the pharma sector and how small
  companies are using patents: (Generic
  Pharmaceuticals & IP),
• Elli Lilly warns drug
  imports to US would boost counterfeit medicines: (BIO
  SmartBrief),
• Supreme Court declines to
  review ruling by the CAFC that there is no constitutional right to access
  experimental drugs: (California
  Biotech Law Blog),

• India: Kaul J reserves
  judgment in J Mitra v Span Diagnostics patent infringement/invalidity
  proceedings related to Hep C diagnostic technology: (Spicy
  IP),

• Europe:
  Jacob Fleming conference on pharma and biotech IP and litigation in February:
  (Generic
  Pharmaceuticals & IP),

• US: FDA removes teeth
  from exclusivity forfeiture: (IP
  Law360)

 

• Aptivus (Tipranavir) –
  Boehringer decides not to register Tipranavir in Brazil?: (Generic
  Pharmaceuticals & IP),
• Arava (Leflunomide) –
  Sanofi-Aventis loses bid to dismiss Louisiana Wholsesale Drug Co’s
  antitrust claims accusing S-A of unlawfully blocking generic competition
  for Arava by filing a sham Citizen Petition with the USFDA: (IP
  Law360),
• Ciprofloxacin – CIPLA
  issued notice by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority for allegedly
  overpricing its antibiotic Ciprofloxacin (especially of note because CIPLA
  is objecting to Roche’s high price for Tarceva in Roche v CIPLA
  patent suit before the Delhi High Court): (Spicy
  IP)
• Crestor (Rosuvastatin) –
  Torrent brings pre-grant opposition against AstraZeneca’s anti-cholesterol
  drug Rosuvastatin but unclear against which application the opposition has
  been made: (Patent
  Circle),
• Exelon (Rivastigmine) –
  Dr Reddys settles US patent dispute with Novartis over dementia treatment Exelon: (Generic
  Pharmaceuticals & IP), (IP
  Law360),
• Imitrex (Sumatriptan) –
  Ranbaxy settles US patent dispute with GSK over migraine drug Imitrex: (Generic
  Pharmaceuticals & IP), (BIO
  SmartBrief), (IP
  Law360), (GenericsWeb),
• Kaletra
  (Lopinavir/Ritonvair) – Developments on Kaletra/Abbott’s registration
  withdrawal in Thailand:
  (Generic
  Pharmaceuticals & IP),
• Kytril (Granisetron) –
  FDA issues response on generic Kytril; Teva’s argument takes the day and
  the company gets 180-day exclusivity: (FDA
  Law Blog), (Generic
  Pharmaceuticals & IP),
• Nexium (Esomeprazole) –
  AstraZeneca commences patent infringement action against Dr Reddy’s
  Laboratories to block generic version of the heartburn drug: (IP Law360),
• Ortho Tri-Cyclen
  (Norgestimate/Ethinyl Estradiol) – Barr Pharmaceuticals in negotiations
  with Johnson & Johnson unit to resolve four-year patent dispute over
  oral contraceptive pill Ortho Tri-Cyclen: (IP
  Law360),
• Prevacid (Lansoprazole) –
  Teva announces USFDA’s tentative approval of generic Prevacid: (GenericsWeb),
• Protonix (Pantoprazole) –
  Teva agrees to extend standstill agreement with rivals Altana Pharma AG
  and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. while the companies work to settle dispute
  over Teva’s generic version of Altana’s heartburn drug Protonix: (IP
  Law360), (GenericsWeb),
• Risperdal (Risperidone) –
  Teva seeks relisting of Johnson & Johnson’s Risperdal patent and
  asserts right to 180-day exclusivity: (Orange
  Book Blog),
• Seasonique (Levonorgestrel/Ethinyl
  Estradiol) – US Patent Office issues patent for Barr Pharmaceuticals’
  extended cycle oral contraceptive: (BIO
  SmartBrief),
• Tarceva (Erlotinib) –
  Roche patent infringement action against CIPLA before Delhi High Court over
  Tarceva patent: (Spicy
  IP), (Patent
  Circle), (21 Jan update – Spicy
  IP), (22 Jan update – Spicy
  IP), (Generic
  Pharmaceuticals & IP), (24 Jan update – Spicy
  IP), (Patent
  Circle),
• Tarceva (Erlotinib) –
  Roche’s Tarceva patent infringement action against CIPLA before Delhi High
  Court and the impact of Bajaj: (Generic
  Pharmaceuticals & IP),
• Valcyte (Valganciclovir)
  – Update/correction on patent for Valganciclovir: (Generic
  Pharmaceuticals & IP),
• Viread (Tenofovir) – US
  Patent Office rejects key HIV/AIDS drug patents at Public Patent
  Foundation request: Government finds prior art submitted by the Foundation
  invalidates all of Gilead Sciences’ claims: (Public Patent
  Foundation), (Generic
  Pharmaceuticals & IP), (GenericsWeb),
  (IP
  Law360)

Africa

• Recent
  article of interest: ‘Staving off expungement: the ‘engineered’ use of a
  trademark in South African, UK and EC Law’: (Afro-IP),
• Botswana calls on United Nations to take a more forceful
  role on free trade in Africa focusing on
  global trade and IP regimes: (Afro-IP),
• Africa
  preferred route for Chinese counterfeits to Europe:
  (IP
  Dragon),  
• Tanzania increases powers to seize counterfeits: (Afro-IP),
• Zimbabwe re-launches Anti-Piracy Organisation: (Afro-IP)

Australia

• Atorney-General releases
  new copyright issues paper on private copying of films and photos: (LawFont.com),
  (IPwar’s),
  (Michael Geist),
• Government publishes  ‘Biotechnology Business Indicators
  November 2007’, including statistics about market capitalisation, clinical
  trial announcements and approvals and patents granted: (IPwar’s),
• IP Australia publishes
  Position Paper following public consultation on incorporation of patent
  and trade marks attorney practices: (IPwar’s),

Brazil

• Challenge
  raised to constitutionality of Brazilian pipeline patents: (Intellectual Property
  Watch)

Canada

• Access Copyright updates
  public domain registry plans: (Michael Geist),
• Privacy Commissioner
  warns against weakening privacy through Canadian DMCA: (Michael Geist),
  (Out-Law), (Ars
  Technica),
• Copyright columns by
  Michael Geist: ‘Fair copyright provides Prentice with reform roadmap’ and
  ‘Copyright reform a potential threat to privacy’: (Michael Geist),
• The Creators’ Copyright
  Coalition on copyright reform: (Michael Geist),
• Canadian Copyright Lobby
  seeking mandated ISP filtering: (Michael Geist),
• Canadian labels: We get
  ‘absolutely zero credit’ for not suing fans: (Ars
  Technica),
• The copyright MPs: (Michael Geist),
• CIPO adopts US
  electronic signature format, tests patent prosecution highway: (IP
  Updates),
• IFPI’s focus on ISPs and
  the push for content blocking: (Michael Geist),
• MPAA acknowledges major
  error in much-promoted study about the impact of movie piracy: (Michael Geist)

China

• Applications and grants on
  the rise in China:
  (IAM),
• China gets ready for National
  IP Strategy: (Philip
  Brooks), (IP
  Updates),
• Microsoft defends unregistered
  ‘Windows’ trademark in China,
  claiming the mark is famous in its battle with a Ningbo eye-glass company: (China
  Law Blog),
• Chinese company Zhongyi
  Electronic sues Microsoft for alleged patent infringement relating to
  technology that converts Roman characters to Chinese characters: (Jurist),
  (China Hearsay), (IP
  Dragon),
• Louis Vuitton fails to
  invalidate LOUYIVEITEN trade mark in China: (Post-Grant)

Europe

• Copiepresse may sue EC
  for copyright infringement in respect of its links to agency websites: (IPKat),
• Microsoft ruling may not
  bolster Europe’s new case, warns lawyer:
  (Out-Law),
• Rambus Inc. fails in its
  attempt to save most of its patent for a memory-chip design, the validity
  of which was challenged by Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and Micron Technology
  Inc.: (IPKat),
• AG confirms distribution
  requires transfer of ownership in C-456/06 Peek & Cloppenberg:
  (IPKat),
  (Out-Law),
• The Greens/European Free
  Alliance advocate file-swapping with ‘I wouldn’t steal’ campaign: (Ars
  Technica),
• IP addresses could become
  ‘personal information’ in Europe: (Ars
  Technica),
• Proposed EU ISP filtering
  and copyright extension shot down: (Ars
  Technica),
• EU appears to ditch plans
  to extend the term of sound recordings, and also to require ISPs to filter
  content: (IPKat),
• Google accuses EU of
  attempting to use antitrust laws to tackle privacy issues in connection
  with its proposed acquisition of advertising company DoubleClick: (Out-Law),
• Protecting privileged
  information in EU investigations: (IP
  Law360),
• EU rules that Crocs shoes
  lack distinctive character: (IP
  Factor), 
• Slovenia ’s plans for European
  IP: (IPKat),
• European Patent Office starts
  pilot project aimed at translating manually the abstracts and claims of
  Chinese utility documents: (IP
  Updates), 
• Europe quietly ramps up its copyright enforcement: (IP
  Law360)

India

• Hasbro and Mattel demand
  closure of Scrabulous gaming website: (IP
  Factor), (Patent
  Librarian’s Notebook), (contentSutra),
  (Anticipate
  This!),

• India gets International
  Search Authority status: (Spicy
  IP),

• Paper on the Madras High
  Court’s decision in Novartis’ challenge of the TRIPS compatibility and
  constitutionality of s 3(d) of India’s patent regime: (Spicy
  IP),
• Is Indian patent law
  TRIPS compliant?: (Spicy
  IP),
• Number of Indian patent
  grants in 2007: (Spicy
  IP),
• Bajaj-TVS patent dispute:
  An update from the Supreme Court: (Spicy
  IP),
• Geographical indications
  make their mark in Bihar & Orissa: (Spicy
  IP),
• Herbal cure for diabetes
  II granted patent: (Spicy
  IP), (Generic
  Pharmaceuticals & IP),
• Brittania gets the better
  of Unibic in Court in its comparative advertising case: (Spicy
  IP),
• Launch of Indian Kanoon –
  free online resource for Indian judgments: (Spicy
  IP),
• LegalAdda: new Indian
  legal portal launched: (Spicy
  IP),
• Bombay High Court rules
  that trade mark cannot be claimed for common, descriptive English words in
  battle between ITC and GTC: (Mondaq),
• A patent problem for India:
  (IAM),
• IP disputes resolved
  through out of court settlement: (Mondaq),
• Prima facie legal right
  required for interim protection: (International
  Law Office)

Israel

• Zip trade mark voided in Israel
  for non-use: (The
  IP Factor)

Italy

• For the first time
  Italian Courts exercised their jurisdiction as Community Trade Mark Courts
  in two cases regarding the protection of the Vuitton monogram: (Catch
  Us If You Can!!!)

Japan

• Japan to block imports of some Nanya DRAM chips after Fujitsu complaint: (Philip
  Brooks)

Malaysia

• Must the Registrar be made a party to the
  proceedings?: (International
  Law Office)

Spain

• Criminal sentence for counterfeiting Nokia
  mobile phones: (International
  Law Office)

United Kingdom

• How agreements lead to
  disagreements: Satyam Computer Services Ltd v Upaid Systems Ltd: (IPKat)
• Beware: The ICO will take
  enforcement action against infringers of the Data Protection Act: (Mondaq),
• Patent and trade mark attorneys
  to pay a high price if they want to be considered part of the legal
  profession as a result of the failure of the professional bodies to agree
  merger terms: (Filemot),
• Competition defence to go
  ahead in Football Association Premier League Ltd and others v LCD
  Publishing Ltd concerning unauthorised publication of photos football
  club members and Football Association Premier League Ltd v QC Leisure &
  Ors concerning the contractually prohibited providence of non-UK
  decoder cards to UK pubs: (IPKat),
  (coverage of FAPL v QC also at Out-Law),
• Court of Appeal reverses
  lower court’s decision in Cinpres Gas Injection Ltd v Melea Ltd, a
  patent infringement case involving allegedly fraudulent evidence: (IPKat),
• Murdoch v Branson in UK
  TV patent battle relating to interactive program guide technology: (IPKat)

United States

• 4th Circuit holds foreign
  company with no US employees, locations, or business must produce designee
  to testify at deposition in Virginia as it filed a trademark application
  with the USPTO, which is located there: Rosenruist-Gestao E Servicos
  LDA, v. Virgin Enterprises Ltd.: (Australian
  Trade Marks Law Blog),
• Donation profiles of key
  figures in patent reform: (Erin-Michael
  Gill),
• Patent reform and
  surrounding controversy: general commentary and opinions: (Patent
  Baristas), (IPBiz),
  (IPBiz),
  (IPBiz),
  (Patent
  Docs), (Washington
  State Patent Law Blog), (Patent
  Docs), (Patent
  Docs), (Patent
  Prospector), (Patent
  Baristas),
• Does the current patent
  reform bill help small business in any way?: (IPBiz)
• Senate Patent Reform Bill
  on inequitable conduct: (Patent
  Docs), (IP
  Updates),
• Senate Patent Reform Bill
  on first-to-file: (IP
  Updates),
• Senate Patent Reform Bill
  on assignee filing: (IP
  Updates),
• Senate Patent Reform Bill
  on damages: (IP
  Updates), (Patent
  Prospector),
• Draft Report on Senate
  Patent Reform Bill: Post-grant procedures: (Patent
  Docs), (IP
  Updates),
• Senate Patent Reform Bill
  on application publication and third party submissions: (IP
  Updates), (Patent
  Docs),
• Sen Reid: patent reform a
  priority: (Peter
  Zura’s 271 Patent Blog), (Anticipate
  This!), (Patent
  Prospector),
• IPO: Senate Patent Reform
  Bill to get vote in February: (IP
  Updates),
• Copyright: The natural
  rights issue: (Patry
  Copyright Blog), (response from Against Monopoly),
• The latest on
  internet-based jurisdictions: (Likelihood of
  confusion)
• The Patent Office has
  become a national disgrace (circa 1930): (Patent
  Baristas),
• Microsoft ‘spyware’
  patent: (IPBiz),
• CAFC hits side-impact
  sensor: The importance of enablement: (Intellectual
  Property Directions),
• TTAB finds ‘OLD TIMER’
  and ‘OLD TIMERS’ HOCKEY CHALLENGE’ 
  for clothing too dissimilar: In re Taylor Brands: (TTABlog),
• USPTO announces it will
  initiate patent prosecution highway pilot programs with the IP Offices of
  Korea and Canada:
  (Patent
  Docs),
• Opinions of counsel to
  defend against allegations of induced infringement: (IP
  Updates),
• ‘Between’ construed as
  ‘only between’: Outside the Box Innovations v Travel Caddy: (IP
  Updates), (Patent
  Prospector),
• The fundamentals of the
  written description requirement and strategies for responding to written
  description rejections – Part I: (patentablydefined.com),
• Top-level domain for the almost
  totally uninhabited United
  States Minor Outlying Islands
  (.um) is now accepting domain registrations: (IPKat), (IP
  Updates),
• Debating copyright
  reform: time for compulsory licenses?: (Ars
  Technica),
• Royalty audit checklists:
  (Mondaq),
• Ninth Circuit takes a
  restrictive approach to claims of copyright in sculptural works depicting
  real animals: Satava v Lowry: (Patry
  Copyright Blog),
• Second Life raises novel
  IP issues including whether use of a trade mark exclusively in a virtual
  world can be ‘use in commerce’: (Mondaq),
• Effects of non-practising
  entity patents on innovation: (Peter
  Zura’s 271 Patent Blog),
• Fear of getting caught
  not really a plagiarism deterrent: (IPBiz),
• USPTO statistics: fewer
  allowances, more appeals: (IP
  Spotlight),
• Design patents: Claim
  construction rules lead to summary judgment of non-infringement: (Patently-O),
• Is the media convincing
  the public that the patent system is ‘broken’?: (Peter
  Zura’s 271 Patent Blog),
• Will eBay v
  MercExchange lead to compulsory licensing?: (Chicago
  IP Litigation Blog),
• The ten worst TTAB decisions
  of 2007?: (Part 1 – TTABlog),
  (Part 2 – TTABlog),
• 2007 top US
  patent assignees from ISIClaims: (Patent
  Librarian’s Notebook),
• Northern District’s 2007
  trade mark case filings down 9%: (Chicago
  IP Litigation Blog),
• KSR moves US
  toward European standard for inventive step: (IP
  Updates),
• KSR obviousness
  claims another victim, Sang Su Lee: (Patent
  Prospector),
• USPTO announcement on
  ‘duty to disclose’ language in oaths/declarations: (Peter
  Zura’s 271 Patent Blog), (PLI),
  (Patently-O),
  (Anticipate
  This!), (patentablydefined.com),
  (Patent
  Prospector), (Patent
  Docs), (IP
  Updates),
• Non-resident filings as a
  percentage of total filings by Office: (Patently-O),
• 8th Circuit rejects
  probationary teacher’s claim of copyright infringement in a hall pass for
  elementary school students: Clark
  v Crues: (Patry
  Copyright Blog),
• Fraud as a basis for
  trade mark cancellation: Medinol v Neuro Vasx: (Mondaq),
• ICANN seeks independence
  from US: (IPKat),
  (Ars
  Technica),
• TTAB rule of thumb:
  Introduce no evidence, lose your opposition: (TTABlog),
• IFPI fantasy: 2008 the
  year ISP filtering ‘becomes reality’: (Ars
  Technica),
• Store brands come out
  ahead as the 3rd Circuit addresses claims of trade dress
  infringement by store brand artificial sweetener products: McNeil
  Nutritionals, LLC v. Heartland Sweeteners, LLC: (Mondaq),
• ‘Famous marks’ doctrine
  not recognized by New York Appeals Court:
  (International
  Law Office)

 

• Abbott – Court of Appeals
  for the Federal Circuit hands down judgment in Abbott and Innogenetics’
  patent dispute relating to Hepatitis C Virus genotyping technology: (Patent
  Baristas), (Patent
  Docs), (IP
  Updates), (more from IP
  Updates), (Patently-O),
• Alexsam – Alexsam files
  suit against Shell Oil Co, Peir 1 Imports and Metromedia Steakhouses Co
  for infringement of patent related to multifunctional card technology: (IP
  Law360),
• Amazon – Court maintains DJ
  jurisdiction over Amazon’s counterclaim in patent dispute with Cordance
  Corp over software related to personal address books: (Delaware IP Law Blog),
  (IP
  Law360),
• Baldwin – CAFC delivers findings
  on claim construction in Baldwin
  Graphic Systems v Siebert: (Anticipate
  This!),
• Biomedical Patent
  Management – CAFC rules that a state’s waiver of Eleventh Amendment
  sovereign immunity in an earlier action that is dismissed ‘does not extend
  to the separate lawsuit’ of Biomedical Patent Management v State of
  California: (Patent
  Baristas), (Peter
  Zura’s 271 Patent Blog), (Patent
  Prospector), (Patently-O),
• CytoLogix: 1st Circuit
  dismisses appeal to combine patent infringement and antitrust lawsuits
  against Ventana Medical Systems: (IP
  Law360),
• Diomed – Total Vein
  Solutions files for bankruptcy before hearing in long-running patent
  dispute with Diomed over endovascular laser treatment technology: (IP
  Law360),
• Gawker Media –
  Scientologists threaten Gawker with legal action over use of video
  depicting Tom Cruise touting Church
  of Scientology: (Trademark
  Blog),
• Google – Google drops
  defense lawyers in Viacom copyright infringement case: (IP
  Law360),
• IBM – Taiwanese company,
  CpuMate commences patent infringement action against IBM over
  heat-dissipation device used in computers: (IP
  Law360),
• IBM – Former IBM engineer
  has sued several companies over his patents for fixing computer data
  errors allowed to add a claim of trade secrets misappropriation against
  three defendants for allegedly passing infringing material to defendant
  Sony Electronics Inc: (IP
  Law360),
• Illumina – Summary
  judgment denied in patent dispute between Applera and Illumina: (IP
  Law360),
• Junction Solutions –
  Court finds different harms allow re-litigation of trade secret
  misappropriation in Junction Solutions v MBS Dev: (Chicago
  IP Litigation Blog),
• LG Electronics – Supreme
  Court hears argument in Quanta v LG regarding exhaustion of patent
  rights: (Mondaq),
  (another article from Mondaq),
• LG Electronics –
  Whirlpool files ITC action against LG over technology used refrigerators:
  (IPBiz),
  (The IP
  Factor), (IP
  Law360),
• LG Electronics – LG and
  others sued by Ennova Direct for allegedly infringing the company’s flash
  memory drive patent: (IP
  Law360)
• Microsoft – Microsoft and
  JVC enter into patent cross-licensing agreement to foster mutual
  innovation and collaboration: (PR
  Newswire),
• Minerva – Minerva asserts
  new patent relating to cellular technology against Apple and numerous
  others: (Patent
  Troll Tracker), (IP
  Law360), (Ars
  Technica),
• Negotiated Data Solutions
  (known as N-Data) – Federal Trade Commission claims authority to enforce
  against a N-Data for allegedly charging excess licensing royalties for
  standardized Ethernet patents:  (IP
  Law360), (Ars
  Technica), (IP
  Updates), (PLI),
  (Peter
  Zura’s 271 Patent Blog), (Patently-O),
• Oculus – $6.6m awarded to
  Oculus in trade secret suit against Nofil Corp: (IP
  Law360),
• Qualcomm – Court sets
  baseline for electronic discovery programs for in-house and retained
  counsel in Qualcomm v Broadcom Corp: (Mondaq), (IP
  Law360), (IP
  Updates), (Philip
  Brooks),
• Recording Industry
  Association of America
  – P2P defendant argues RIAA identified an IP address, not a person
  involved in alleged infringing activities in Atlantic v Njuguna: (Ars
  Technica),
• Retractable Technologies
  – Federal Judge agrees to sever Retractable’s antitrust claims from the
  patent infringement claims it brought against rival
  medical-technology-maker Becton Dickinson and Co: (IP
  Law360),
• Samsung – ITC to
  investigate Samsung’s claims that Japan-based Sharp Corp. and its U.S.
  subsidiaries are infringing LCD patents through the importation of
  televisions, laptops and cell phones: (IP
  Law360),
• Sprint Nextel – Sprint
  Nextel asserts VOP patents against mobile service providers, Big River
  Telephone Co., Broadvox Holdings LLC, NuVox Communications Inc. and Paetec
  Communications: (IP
  Law360),
• Synergetic – Eye surgery
  equipment maker, Synergetics, settles with former employees over trade
  secrets and patent infringement dispute: (IP
  Law360),
• Visto – Magistrate Judge defines email patent claims
  in Visto case: (IP
  Law360)