Almost two decades ago the Supreme Court handed down what has turned out to be one of its most significant patent decisions of this century: eBay v. MercExchange. The eBay case has had the effect of precluding prevailing...more
In a recent patent case, the U.S. government urged a Texas federal court to give greater weight to the difficulty of calculating damages as a basis for finding irreparable harm. If embraced by courts, the move could give...more
In an unusual move, the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office submitted a “Statement of Interest” this week in a pending patent case in the Eastern District of Texas—sharing “views” on whether...more
In a bold and unusual move, the DOJ’s Antitrust Division and the USPTO have jointly filed a Statement of Interest in a patent case – not before the Supreme Court or Federal Circuit, but in a district court in East Texas. The...more
Business method patents have a checkered history. They were once very much in vogue—numerous such patents issued, and many of them were litigated. Then, about two years ago, Congress enacted a special procedure that made it...more
Politico, the popular political journalism publication, recently ran the story “Patent Reform Advocates: PTO Process Not Patent ‘Death Squad.’” The story was based on a blog post by patent reform advocate Unified Patents. ...more
United States antitrust law seeks to encourage free and open competition by preventing exclusionary conduct that threatens the competitive process. Intellectual property rights (IPR) laws, by contrast, are designed to...more
In This Issue: - “Patent Trolls” in the Crosshairs – But How Will Patent Reform Legislation Impact the Rest of Us - USPTO Guidance Takes an Expansive View of Patent-Ineligible Subject Matter - Functional Claim...more