Association For Molecular Pathology et al v. United States Patent and Trademark Office et al., 1-09-cv-04515 (NYSD March 29, 2010, Opinion) (Sweet, J.)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
"Isolated DNA" Patents Fail to Claim Patentable Subject Matter
Association For Molecular Pathology et al v. United States Patent and Trademark Office et al., 1-09-cv-04515 (NYSD March 29, 2010, Opinion) (Sweet, J.)
Complaint Lacking Identification of Infringing Act or Direct Infringer Failed to State a Claim
Bedrock Computer Technologies, LLC v. Softlayer Technologies, Inc. et al., 6-09-cv-00269 (March 29, 2010, TXED Order) (Davis, J.)
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Will The Federal Circuit’s Decision in Pequignot v. Solo Cup Co. Impact The Number of New False Marking Cases?
March 24, 2008
The court denies a motion to dismiss in Pequignot v. Solo Cup Co., 540 F. Supp. 2d 649 (E.D. Va. 2008), concluding that marking with expired patent numbers may constitute false marking and the use of permissive language (“may be covered”) in the marking does not create a safe harbor.December 28, 2009
The Federal Circuit issues an opinion in Forest Group Inc. v. Bon Tool Co., 590 F.3d 1295 (Fed. Cir. 2009), holding that the $500 penalty for falsely marking a product under 35 U.S.C. § 292 applies to each article so marked.As shown in the chart below, the twenty months following the Solo Cup decision saw a modest increase in the number of false marking cases. Yet even though Solo Cup opened the door for expired patent cases, it prompted only 13 new filings of that type. In fact, during that same period of time, false marking cases based on allegations that the marked product did not fall within the scope of the patent (“patent scope cases”) outnumbered expired patent cases 19 to 13.
All of that changed after the Forest Group decision. In the 3 months following that decision, over 100 new expired patent cases were filed. That represents an increase from approximately one new expired patent case per month to more than 30 per month. And expired patent cases now outnumber patent scope cases nearly 5 to 1.
In our prior post on this topic, we observed: “Should the Federal Circuit adopt this position [that establishing intent to deceive is difficult in expired patent cases], more than two-thirds of the pending false marking cases would be affected.” That is undoubtedly true. But this new data suggests, perhaps, that the affect may not be as significant as we once imagined. If the driving force behind the recent surge in new false marking cases is damages, creating an additional hurdle on liability may do little to dissuade qui tam plaintiffs.
Labels:
False Marking
Monday, March 29, 2010
Eastern District of Texas Limits Number of Patent Claims and Prior Art References Asserted in Case
SynQor, Inc. v. Artesyn Technologies, Inc. et al., 2-07-cv-00497 (TXED March 25, 2010, Order) (Everingham, M.J.)
Friday, March 26, 2010
Amendment of Infringement Contentions Permitted Despite Public Availability of Information Addressed by Amendment
Prism Technologies v. Research in Motion, Ltd. et al., 8-08-cv-00537 (NED March 24, 2010, Memorandum Order) (Strom, J.)
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Court's Prior Experience With Patents and Technology "Weigh Heavily Against Transfer"
Red River Fiber Optic Corp. v. Verizon Comm. Inc. et al., 2-08-cv-00215 (TXED March 23, 2010, Memorandum Opinion & Order) (Everingham, M.J.)
Defendants' motion to transfer was denied. "The Court is intimately familiar with the asserted patent and the related technology. The Court has previously reviewed related technology tutorials, held a Markman hearing, and issued an extensive claim construction opinion construing several claim terms. . . . Thus, the interest of judicial economy weighs heavily against transferring this case."
Colorquick, LLC v. Vistaprint Ltd. et al., 6-09-cv-00323 (TXED March 23, 2010, Memorandum Opinion & Order) (Love, M.J.).
Labels:
Reexam
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Inequitable Conduct Expert Could Not Testify as to Materiality Absent Qualification as a Person Skilled in the Art
Advanced Technology Incubator, Inc. v. Sharp Corporation et al., 5-09-cv-00135 (TXED March 22, 2010, Order) (Bryant, M.J.)
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
False Marking Causes and Statistics
Although the lion's share of these cases allege that the patents in suit were expired at the time of marking, Judge Brinkema suggested in Pequignot v. Solo Cup Company, Case No. 1-07-cv-00897 (E.D. Va.), that establishing intent to deceive in the case of an expired patent may be difficult:
"When a product is marked with an expired patent number, any person with basic knowledge of the patent system can look up the patent and determine its expiration date, reducing the potential for being deceived."
Should the Federal Circuit adopt this position, more than two-thirds of the pending false marking cases would be affected.
The chart below provides a visual of these statistics as of this writing. The complete listing of cases can be found at the Gray On Claims blog here. Additionally, a downloadable pdf complete with accused products and patents can be found here.
Labels:
False Marking
Counsel's Prior Representation of Defendant With Respect to IPO Due Diligence Did Not Warrant Disqualification
Soverain Software LLC v. CDW Corporation et al., 6-07-cv-00511 (TXED March 18, 2010, Memorandum Opinion & Order) (Davis, J.)
Monday, March 22, 2010
Google AdWords Do Not Infringe Patent Requiring "Price-Determining Activity"
Performance Pricing, Inc. v. Google Inc. et al., 2-07-cv-00432 (TXED March 18, 2010, Order) (Rader, CJ.)
Friday, March 19, 2010
Marking Website as Containing Patented Firewall Software that No Longer Exists is not False Marking of the Website
Juniper Networks, Inc. v. Shipley, 4-09-cv-00696 (CAND March 17, 2010, Order) (Armstrong, J.)
Labels:
False Marking
Thursday, March 18, 2010
VirnetX Obtains $105M Verdict against Microsoft and Files Another Suit the Next Day Alleging Infringement by Windows 7
VirnetX, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 6-07-cv-00080 (TXED March 16, 2010, Verdict Form)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Delay Seeking Transfer of Venue Trumps Other Convenience Factors
eTool Development, Inc. et al v. National Semiconductor Corporation, 2-08-cv-00196 (TXED March 15, 2010 Memorandum Opinion & Order) (Ward, J.)
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Servant Whose Participation Exceeds "Mere Direction or Control" by Master May be Liable for Joint Infringement
Datatreasury Corporation v. Wells Fargo & Company et al., 2-06-cv-00072 (TXED March 12, 2010, Order) (Folsom, J.).
Monday, March 15, 2010
Google and Yahoo! Search Engines Do Not Infringe Method Claims Requiring Entry of Search Request Data By Users
PA Advisors, LLC v. Google Inc. et al., 2-07-cv-00480 (TXED March 11, 2010, Order) (Rader, C.J.)
Friday, March 12, 2010
In re TS Tech and In re Genentech do not Apply Where the Requested Venue is a Neighboring District
HP Hood LLC v. Stremicks Heritage Foods LLC, 3-09-cv-01663 (CASD March 10, 2010, Order) (Burns, J.)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Plaintiff's Refusal to License and Competition with Defendant Rendered Monetary Damages Inadequate
Arlington Industries v. Bridgeport Fittings, 3-01-cv-00485 (PAMD March 9, 2010, Memorandum & Order) (Conner, J.)
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
In Determining Proper Venue, Court Will Not Scrutinize Plaintiff's Reason For Relocation To The Eastern District of Texas
MedIdea, LLC v. Zimmer Holdings, Inc. et al., 2-09-cv-00258 (TXED March 8, 2010, Memorandum Opinion & Order) (Ward, J.)
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Lost Profits Expert Need Not Speculate As To Possible Noninfringing Alternatives
Callaway Golf Company v. Acushnet Company, 1-06-cv-00091 (DED March 3, 2010, Memorandum Opinion) (Robinson, J.).
Monday, March 8, 2010
Evidence Of Litigation-Induced License Agreements Should Not Be Excluded From Trial
Datatreasury Corporation v. Wells Fargo & Company et al., 2-06-cv-00072 (TXED March 4, 2010, Order) (Folsom, J.)
Friday, March 5, 2010
Conflicting Claim Constructions Preclude Finding of Willfulness
Arlington Industries v. Bridgeport Fittings, 3-01-cv-00485 (PAMD March 2, 2010, Memorandum & Order) (Conner, J.)
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Entire Operating System Cannot Serve as Royalty Base Where Only the Workspace Switching Feature is Accused of Infringement
IP Innovation, LLC. et al v. Red Hat Inc. et al., 2-07-cv-00447 (TXED March 2, 2010, Order) (Rader, C.J.)
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Defendant May Not Present Jury Argument Concerning KSR's Change to Obviousness Standard
Datatreasury Corp. v. Wells Fargo & Co. et al., 2-06-cv-00072 (TXED February 26, 2010, Order) (Folsom, J.)
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Complaint Alleging Infringement by "Laundry List of Electronic Devices" Failed to State a Claim
Bender v. Motorola, Inc., 4-09-cv-01245 (CAND February 26, 2010, Order) (Armstrong, J.)
Monday, March 1, 2010
Inequitable Conduct Pleading Need Not Allege Why Undisclosed Prior Art Embodies the Claimed Invention, Why it is Not Cumulative, or
The court denied plaintiff's motion to strike defendant's inequitable conduct defense based on the alleged failure to disclose an IEEE article comparing plaintiff's product to a preexisting product embodying the patented invention. The court rejected plaintiff's argument that defendant's counterclaim "failed to identify which claims are disclosed in the Article, where the relevant information is found in the Article, why the Article is not cumulative, or how the examiner would have applied the Article to the claims of the [patent-in-suit]" and agreed with defendant's argument that "[plaintiff] does not need [defendant], for purposes of notice pleading, to explain why a three page article comparing [plaintiff's] product to a pre-existing product that embodies the invention claimed in the [patent-in-suit] is not cumulative or how the examiner would have applied it."
Somanetics Corp. v. CAS Medical Systems, Inc., 2-09-cv-13110 (MIED February 25, 2010, Opinion & Order) (Cox, J.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)