Philip Brooks' Patent Infringement Updates

Fourth Blogaversary!

 

Thanks for Reading!

Vote for the Top Patent Blogs

Gene Quinn of the IPWatchdog Blog is soliciting votes to rank the top patent blogs from the 50 identified previously.  Philip Brooks' Patent Infringement Updates is one of the 50 available for readers to vote on.

Take a look at the process and vote:

As promised, we are moving forward to attempt to determine the Top Patent Blogs.  With the objective component making up Phase 1 of the Top Patent Blog selection process complete, it is now time to move forward into Phase 2, which is the voting phase.  Below are 50 patent blogs for you to choose from.  Question 1 asks which patent blog is your favorite, and question 2 asks which patent blogs you regularly read.  Only one selection is permitted for question 1, but multiple selections are permitted for question 2.  For each question 1 vote a total of 2 points will be awarded.  For each question 2 vote a total of 1 point will be awarded.  Each computer will be allowed only one opportunity to vote, so that we do not run into an American Idol situation where die hard fans can vote hundreds of times and skew results.

Voting will continue through the end of June 2009.  Once voting is complete I will tabulate the results, combine those results with phase 1 totals and announce the Top Patent Blogs, sometime at the beginning of July 2009.

Let the voting begin!

Managing the Dragon

I had the opportunity to hear Jack Perkowski of JFP Holdings speak earlier this week at a Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association luncheon.  He shared some fascinating observations about the Chinese business environment, many of which are captured in his book titled, "Managing the Dragon, How I'm Building a Billion-Dollar Business in China."

The following is an excerpt from one of his recent blog posts at Managing the Dragon:

Almost twenty years ago, I left Wall Street and moved to Hong Kong because I was convinced that Asia’s development would be the story of the twenty-first century, and I wanted to play a role. Due to the demographics and high growth rates in the region, I believed that companies in Asia would have a strong wind at their back, but that they would need access to capital, management and technology to take advantage of their inherent growth opportunities.

The formula for creating successful businesses and investment opportunities in China is to combine the best technology, know-how and management practices from around the world with the China market. My Wall Street experience and the time I have spent learning how to do business in China provide a unique knowledge base, set of experiences and network of contacts that are well suited to help close the technology and know-how gaps that still exist. That is the essence of what I will focus on in my second phase in China.

JFP Holdings was established in January to help global companies develop and implement their China strategies, provide infrastructure support and access to capital as required, and to assist Chinese companies to develop global footprints. We are just getting started, but we have already made significant progress. Our staff now includes a half-dozen dedicated professionals, with many others anxious to join as our business grows. We are already working with companies and organizations in some of the most promising areas for future development: environmental technology, high value-added manufacturing, services and health care.

Read the full post and find a link to purchase his book here.

New Patent Information Site Launches - OTI

Ocean Tomo has launched a new patent information site called OTI for global IP market data.  The site's homepage can be customized with widgets functionality allowing you to tailor the service to suit your individual needs.

Established jointly by Ocean Tomo and The Intellectual Property Exchange International (IPXI), OTI is community driven and the only comprehensive source of global intellectual property-based market information. OTI provides IP, finance, business and media professionals, an all-inclusive online platform containing the latest IP news and market pricing. OTI research tools and global patent and transaction data help drive intelligent business decisions in a highly competitive global economy.

Take a look here.

Patent Docs' Weekly Court Report

A new addition to my Blogroll, Patent Docs, offers a weekly Court Report that briefly summarizes recently filed biotech and pharma cases.  In addition, the authors (four patent attorneys who hold doctorates in a diverse array of biotech and chemical disciplines) promise to select a few interesting cases for periodic monitoring.  Patent Docs is a biotech and pharma patent law and news blog.

The following new cases are summarized in the most recent (February 22, 2009) Court Report:

1. Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. et al. v. Teva Parenteral Medicines Inc. et al.
2. Kabushiki Kaisha Hayashibara Seibutsu Kaguku Kenkyujo v. Doll
3. Phylonix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Zygogen, LLC
4. Intema Ltd. v. NTD Laboratories, Inc. et al.
5. Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals LP et al. v. Accord Healthcare, Inc. et al.

Check out the full post and the blog here.

IPWatchdog Presents The Top 25 Patent Blogs

On February 11, 2009, Gene Quinn of IPWatchdog presented the top 25 (updated since to 26) patent blogs based on Technorati Rank. As Gene explains, "Technorati Rank is based upon Technorati Authority.  Technorati Authority is the number of blogs linking to another blog within the last six months."  I was thrilled to see that Philip Brooks' Patent Infringement Updates made the list.

You can learn more on Gene's post (including a link to each blog and its respective Technorati Rank), but here is the list:

1. Patently-O

2. Patent Baristas
3. IPWatchdog 
4. Against Monopoly 
5. Patently Silly 
6. Chicago IP Litigation Blog 
7. PHOSITA 
8. Spicy IP 
9. PLI Patent Practice Center 
10. Duncan Bucknell Company’s IP Think Tank 
11. Patent Prospector 
12. Securing Innovation 
13. Peter Zura’s 271 Patent Blog 
14. The Invent Blog
15. Promote the Progress 
16. I/P Updates
17. IP NewsFlash 
18. Orange Book Blog 
19. The IP Factor 
20. Philip Brooks' Patent Infringement Updates
21. Patent Docs 
22. Antiticpate This! 
23. Patent Fools (now operated by IPWatchdog.com) 
24. Patentably Defined 
25. Steve van Dulke’s Patent Blog 
26. IP Spotlight

European Patent Case Law

Check out the European Patent Case Law blog that covers news of patent law in France and Europe and case law of the EPO.  The site is in French, but links to German and English translations are available.

The following is a partial list of post categories (post count):

• CPI-merger lawyers (31)
• Invention of the week (14)
• Art 123 (2) (11)
• EPC 2000 (10)
• London Protocol (10)
• PALS (9)
• EQE (9)
• Directive 2004/48 (6)

See the blog here.

PatentFools Launches

Gene Quinn (a founding member of White + Quinn P.C. and IPWatchdog.com, lead author of PLI Patent Practice Center blogand teacher of a patent bar review course for the Practising Law Institute) and John White (a founding member of White + Quinn P.C., Adjunct Law Professor at John Marshall Law School and creator of the PLI Patent Bar Review Course) have recently launched the PatentFoolsblog. They offer the following explanation for their launch, "The point of PatentFools is to try and identify wrongs, articulate positions, influence decision-makers and have some fun saving the world for generations to come."

The following is excerpted from their August 22, 2008 post titled,"PTO Should Withdraw GSK Appeal":

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit seems to have dealt a big blow to any hopes the Patent Office and the Department of Justice had about possibly convincing the court to overrule the decision of Judge Cacheris with respect to the permanent injunction of the proposed claims and continuations rules.

In Cooper v. Dudas, the Federal Circuit was asked to decide whether the the Patent Office had the authority to interpret the term “original application,” a term used in a section of the American Inventors Protection Act.  The particular section of the law in question was one that authorized for the first time the ability to file an inter partes reexamination of an issued patent.  Previously, if you wanted the Patent Office to reconsider a particular issued patent you would request a reexamination and then not have the ability to participate in the reconsideration.  With the advent of inter partes reexamination now you can both ask for the reexamination and participate in the proceeding as the Patent Office reviews the issued patent.

The Federal Circuit ruled that the Patent Office does have the authority to interpret statutes, which is the obvious right decision.  The PTO is charged with implementing the law, so it is well established that they, along with other agencies charged with implementing laws, have the authority to interpret the statute.

What makes this decision important, however, is that the Federal Circuit clearly stated what authority the Patent Office has, and as written it is clear that the Patent Office does not have the authority to implement substantive changes to the law surrounding how many continuation applications can be filed and how many total claims can be obtained on a single invention.

Read the full post here and take the opportunity to look around what promises to be a great addition to the world of patent blogs.  Congratulations to Gene and John on their launch!

Green Patent Blog

Eric Lane is the author of the Green Patent Blog ("covering intellectual property issues in clean technology") which launched in December 2007.  He is a patent attorney at Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps in San Diego, where he is in the Intellectual Property and Climate Change & Clean Technologies practice groups.

The following is excerpted from his July 13, 2008 post titled, "A Lesson for Nilssen: Breaking the Rules Proves Costly for Prolific CFL Inventor:"

In a previous post I wrote about Ole K. Nilssen, who played fast and loose with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) disclosure rules while prosecuting and maintaining some of his 200+ patents directed to compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) technology.  Nilssen’s shenanigans included incorrectly claiming the right to pay reduced fees reserved for small entities, submitting misleading affidavits, and failing to disclose to the PTO then-pending litigation with Motorola on related subject matter.

The inventor’s conduct before the PTO was later deemed inequitable conduct by the district court and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (Federal Circuit) (Patent rule 1.56 imposes a duty of candor on the applicant, and patent case law deems such deception and incomplete disclosure of material information during the patent application process “inequitable conduct” that renders any resulting patents unenforceable).

It turns out that Nilssen’s sloppiness before the PTO spilled over to the courtroom and has cost him about $6 million.  Last month the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court decision that Nilssen should pay Osram Sylvania, Inc.’s (Sylvania) attorney fees to cover the cost of the patent infringement suit Nilssen brought against Sylvania.

See the full post here.

Patent Infringement Updates Celebrates Third Anniversary

Thanks to all of you loyal, as well as occassional, readers.

Please let me know what types of content you would like to see in the coming year.

All the best... Phil