In Google v. Sonos, the Federal Circuit soundly disposed of arguments that the patent-in-suit was unenforceable due to laches based on an “unreasonable delay” in patent prosecution. Does the court’s reasoning foreclose the...more
In October 2023, we reported on the district court decision in Sonos, Inc. v. Google LLC. The decision was notable for reviving the prosecution laches doctrine to render unenforceable a continuation patent filed 13 years...more
Provisional patent applications are popular in the U.S. for the various advantages they may provide applicants, including lower filing costs, less restrictive United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) filing...more
A recent district court decision in Sonos v. Google has set forth a novel application of the prosecution laches doctrine to a patent with a post-1995 priority date. Sonos Inc. v. Google LLC, 20-06754 WHA, 2023 WL 6542320...more
For many parts of the world, a voluntary divisional application (known as a continuation application in the U.S.) may be filed at any time during the pendency of any parent application. The claims in the voluntary divisional...more
Addressing for the first time whether a patent term adjustment in a parent application is applicable to continuing applications, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s summary judgment...more