The Supreme Court resolved a dispute between the circuit courts as to whether a bankrupt brand owner can use bankruptcy law to unilaterally “reject” (or revoke) a trademark license and thus strip a licensee of a [...]
The USPTO issued a notice in the Federal Register regarding the options for amendments by a patent owner to their patent through reissue or reexamination. The notice reminds patent owners that various options exist for a [...]
On March 4, 2019, the Supreme Court resolved an issue on which the various federal circuit courts were split: can a copyright plaintiff bring a lawsuit once they have filed an application for registration with the [...]
UNDERSTANDING 35 U.S.C. § 101 AND THE ALICE DECISION Overview Section 101 sets forth the type of inventions which are entitled to be patented (assuming they meet the other requirements for patentability, such as novelty (under [...]
In the case of Helsinn Healthcare S.A., v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., et al., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that changes to Section 102 of the America Invents Act did not change the meaning of the [...]
The USPTO has issued modified subject-matter eligibility (“Section 101”) guidance. The new guidance recognizes the need for increased clarity and consistency in how Section 101 is applied. Under current Section 101 case law, an invention may not [...]
In the case of Arista Networks, Inc. v. Cisco Sys., Inc. (Federal Circuit, November 9, 2018), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit addressed the issue of whether assignee estoppel applies to prevent an inventor/assignor from [...]
In the case of WesternGeco Ltd. v. Ion Geophysical Corp., the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Federal Circuit’s rule against extraterritorial lost profits for infringement of U.S. Patents. The Supreme Court ruled that 35 U.S.C. § 271(f), [...]
In a close 5-4 decision in SAS Institute Inc. v. Iancu, the Supreme Court found that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s previous practice of agreeing to review some challenged claims and deny review of others in [...]
The America Invents Act created a new vehicle for challengers to attach patents: the Inter-Parties Reexamination or “IPR”. In the case of Oil States Energy Services LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC, Oil States contended that the [...]
