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Intellectual Property RSS

Deal Reached In 'Levinson Axelrod Sucks' Site Suit

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

New Jersey plaintiffs law firm Levinson Axelrod PA and a former associate have reached a settlement regarding the ex-associate's "Levinson Axelrod Sucks" website, which appears to no longer be operating.

Merger Wrinkle Sends Halliburton IP Suit To Arbitration

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

A judge has sent a patent suit lodged by Halliburton Energy Services Inc. against rival BJ Services Co. over rock fracturing techniques to arbitration, finding that an earlier dispute resolution agreement struck between Halliburton and BJ’s recent acquirer Baker Hughes Inc. applies to the case.

ITC Judge Rejects Panasonic Interlocutory Appeal Bid

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

An administrative law judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission has denied a request by Panasonic Corp. and others for clarification of the agency's investigation of Freescale Semiconductor Inc.’s complaint claiming certain chipsets and products containing them infringe its intellectual property.

Pioneer Settles GPS Patent Suit With Ambato

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

Pioneer Corp. has settled a suit brought by Ambato Media LLC that accused more than a dozen companies and their affiliates of infringing a patent for vehicle navigation devices.

GSK 'Triple Protection' Trademark Too Generic: Colgate

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

Colgate-Palmolive Co. has hit rival GlaxoSmithKline LLC with a suit seeking a declaratory judgment that Colgate’s use of the phrase “Triple Action” on its toothpaste products does not infringe GSK’s trademarked phrase “Triple Protection.”

Sandoz Drops Generic Mirapex Plans For Now

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

Sandoz Inc. has given up its fight to market a generic version of Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH's Parkinson's drug Mirapex before Boehringer's patent on the drug expires in October in light of a preliminary injunction barring its proposed generic.

Jury Clears Fresenius In Baxter Dialysis Patent Suit

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

A federal jury has cleared Fresenius Medical Care Holdings Inc. of infringement in a patent dispute with rival Baxter Healthcare Corp. over a peritoneal dialysis machine used to treat end-stage kidney disease.

ITC To Probe Sex Toy Maker's Infringement Claims

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

The U.S. International Trade Commission said Friday it would launch an investigation into Interactive Life Forms LLC's claims that more than two dozen companies violated U.S. trade law by selling or importing sex toys and components that allegedly infringe two patents.

Fed. Circ. Won't Rehear Prandin Use Code Patent Case

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

Unmoved by calls from the generic-drug industry to revisit the decision, a federal appeals court has refused to reconsider en banc an April ruling for Novo Nordisk A/S in its patent fight with Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd. over the diabetes drug Prandin.

Richtek-VisionTek IP Deal Beyond Agency's Scope: ITC

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

The U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled that a settlement allowing technology-component importer VisionTek Products LLP to exit Richtek Technology Corp.'s circuit patent infringement suit imposes a remedy beyond its scope and has asked the parties to fix the deal.

DOJ Antitrust Honcho Returns To Patterson Belknap

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

After a stint supervising several major civil antitrust enforcement efforts for the U.S. Department of Justice, William F. Cavanaugh Jr. has returned home to Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP.

Sen. Panel Advances Ban On Pay-For-Delay Deals

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

The Senate Appropriations Committee has voted to advance legislation designed to limit pay-for-delay settlements, a rare victory for critics of the practice.

Larson Door Patent Can Be Enforced, Court Rules

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

A U.S. district court has ruled that Aluminart Products Ltd., Canada's largest storm door maker, has not proven that a door technology patent held by Larson Manufacturing Co. of South Dakota Inc. is unenforceable, even though the court previously found Larson had engaged in inequitable conduct.

Baker & Hostetler Pulls In Mayer Brown Litigators

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

Baker & Hostetler LLP has enlisted two commercial litigators from Mayer Brown LLP with expertise in contract disputes, trade secrets cases and other areas to boost the firm’s litigation team.

Fiber-Optics Cos. ADC, AFL End Cable Patent Fight

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

ADC Telecommunications Inc. has settled a suit alleging rival fiber-optics giant AFL Telecommunications LLC infringed four of its cable patents, striking a deal that requires AFL to license patents related to ADC's fiber-to-the-premises technology.

Judge OKs Smith & Nephew Letters About Patent Suit

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

A judge has refused to enjoin Smith & Nephew Inc. from sending letters to current and prospective customers about an infringement suit it has filed against Interlace Medical Inc. over a patent for an instrument used to remove tissue during surgical procedures.

Sony, McAfee Sued Over Anti-Piracy Patent

Friday, Jul 30, 2010

Sony Corp. of America, Activision Blizzard Inc., McAfee Inc. and others have been tagged in a new patent infringement suit filed by Uniloc USA Inc. that accuses them of infringing a patent covering an anti-piracy product activation method and system.

Fed. Circ. Tosses Becton's $58M Syringe Patent Win

Thursday, Jul 29, 2010

A federal appeals court on Thursday reversed a $58 million jury award Becton Dickinson and Co. had won in an infringement suit against former Tyco International Ltd. subsidiary Covidien PLC over a syringe patent.

4th Circ. Sinks 2nd Malpractice Suit Against Holland

Thursday, Jul 29, 2010

A federal appeals court has affirmed the dismissal of a case brought by a former Holland & Knight LLP client who accused the firm of mishandling his copyright suit.

$7M Verdict Sticks In Camtek Chip Inspection IP Suit

Thursday, Jul 29, 2010

A federal judge has rejected Camtek Ltd.'s bid for a new trial following a jury's $6.8 million damages award to plaintiff Rudolph Technologies Inc. in a patent infringement suit over an automated system for detecting defects in semiconductor wafers.


Expert Analysis

Overhauling The Associate Recruiting System

The most obvious solution to the pickle in which we now find ourselves is to skip the nonsense about hiring summer associates and adopt a rational universal method of training new associates so that they can indeed provide value. This concept, which has been the subject of hushed discussions in many corners, will doubtless be met with the same vigorous rancor that health care reform was for 40 years, says Jerome Kowalski of Kowalski & Associates.

IP Due Diligence In M&A Transactions

Unless the primary motivation for a deal is the acquisition of intellectual property assets, buyers tend to underestimate the importance of conducting a thorough IP due diligence review. As a result, unidentified or unresolved IP issues can seriously compromise a buyer’s position or the attractiveness of the transaction, say Ryan G. Miest and Brooke K. Zinter of Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP.

The Demise Of Junk Science And The 25% Rule

Recent decisions in patent infringement cases show that the courts are moving toward requiring the use of fundamental and rational economic methods for determining reasonable royalties. The 25 Percent Rule is neither rational nor based on fundamental principles, and it is contradicted by empirical evidence, say Stephen Rusek and Alan Cox of NERA Economic Consulting.

High Tech And The Supreme Court

Taken together, the U.S. Supreme Court's disposition of Ontario v. Quon and Bilski v. Kappos suggests the court will adopt a cautious, case-specific approach to resolving disputes that arise in the high-technology area, says appellate lawyer Mark S. Davies.

Bringing Financial Discipline To IP Departments

Although a truly quantitative approach to intellectual property asset management is technically complex and requires a fair amount of time to set up, there are at least a few things that companies can do immediately to jump-start the process of imposing financial discipline within their departments, says Joseph Siino of Ovidian Group LLC.

Bilski — A Financial Patent's Waterloo?

For much of the past two decades, the biggest banks and brokerages have been amassing portfolios of patents, with the leaders in mutual funds, retail brokerages and investment banking each now holding patent assets that extend into the hundreds of patents and pending applications. The Bilski court, while perhaps not endorsing these patents, has at the very least left some of them alone — for now, says James M. Bollinger of Troutman Sanders LLP.

NY High Court And Long-Arm Copyright Jurisdiction

The New York Court of Appeals has been asked to rule on whether the situs of injury for deciding jurisdiction in a copyright suit is where the alleged infringement occurred or the copyright holder's primary place of business. Any decision will likely have broader implications for cases filed in New York, as well as in states with similar long-arm jurisdiction statutes, say Lauren E. Aguiar, Mary E. Rasenberger and Rebecca Silberberg of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.

Avoiding Intent In A False Patent Marking Action

The most cost-effective approach to the recent jump in false patent marking suits is for companies that mark their products with patents to conduct an audit to assess the magnitude of the issue and develop policies and procedures to avoid false marking, and if litigation ensues, focus on damage control, say John E. Nemazi and Robert C.J. Tuttle of Brooks Kushman PC.