Patent Law

Mediation Confidentiality in California: A Power Point Presentation

Posted on March 11, 2008
Confidentiality in Settlement Negotiations and Mediation - Get more free documents

Prepare to Celebrate World IP Day

Posted on March 11, 2008
“Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time.” "Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana." These two quotes from world-class innovator and IP rights owner, Bill Gates, say it all about the state of intellectual property today...

You Have Coverage for that IP Dispute? Follow the Money!

Posted on March 10, 2008
How important is insurance coverage to your clients' decision to bring or defend or negotiate the resolution of a commercial dispute?  It's usually the difference between having options and being entirely out of luck.And when that decision concerns catastrophic losses?  Unless you are an insurance coverage specialist, you make coverage decisions at your peril...

The Moment an Idea is Divulged, It Forces itself into the Possession of Everyone

Posted on March 06, 2008
This is the sort of statement I simply cannot resist.  Thanks to TechDirt!If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Rule 408 No Bar to Proving Settlement in Trademark Case

Posted on March 05, 2008
See No do-overs, no take-backs over at Likelihood of Confusion, excerpt below:Hypothetical: We are negotiating a trademark dispute. During those negotiations — which we both agree are being undertaken for purposes of settling our dispute — I, trademark user, promise not to object to (i...

Not Breaking News: A Trademark Tutorial from Lindquist and Vennum

Posted on March 03, 2008
(image from the U.K. Trademark Application Blog)What's the difference between an IP arbitrator or mediator and a general commercial arbitrator and mediator?  Some of us -- like Les Weinstein and Michael Young -- have devoted substantial parts of their careers to patent (Les) and trademark (Michael) litigation...

Why an IP ADR Blog? Because We Aggregate IP Settlement Information for You!

Posted on March 03, 2008
Someone once asked me whether IP ADR was too narrow a topic to justify an entire blog(!!!!)Any regular reader will chuckle in response.  Check out, for instance, the IP Blogs listed on the ABA Blawg site.  This week's featured blog, Patently O, is one of the best IP blogs in the world...

Patent Infringement Settlements in the News

Posted on February 29, 2008
EBay Agrees to Buy Patents From MercExchange, Settling Long-Running Dispute EBay Inc. has settled a seven-year patent dispute with MercExchange LLC that prompted an important intellectual property ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. The online auction company said in a statement Thursday that it bought the three MercExchange patents it had been accused of violating...

Seagate a Floodgate to Patent ADR?

Posted on February 28, 2008
(above, floodgates along the Bitan Dam by Poagao)The U.S. Supreme Court just denied review of Convolve Inc. v. Seagate Technology. Why do we care? Because in Seagate, the Federal Circuit reversed a long established precedent and announced a new and higher standard for obtaining treble damages in patent cases, which could have the impact of making some patent cases more receptive to mediation or other ADR processes...

The Easiest Way to Get What You Want: Say Please

Posted on February 28, 2008
Recently I re-posted Five Ways to Minimize Risk of Copyright Liability from Citizen Media here.  Today, IP attorney extraordinaire Tamera Bennett (left) dropped by to remind us of our own ADR "core values," i.e., self-determination and respect for the rights of others...

WOW!! IP Think Tank Global Week in Review

Posted on February 22, 2008
Unbelievably extensive link roll to global IP resources in a single week!  Check it out.  I just subscribed but am thinking I'd need to take a vacation to keep up!Thanks Duncan!By the way, the patent infringement case I was talking about involved one co-defendant selling its business to another co-defendant where the two businesses had different geographic markets; different distribution channels; different strengths; different weaknesses; and, the seller was cash poor due to the litigation...

Settle the Patent Infringement Case by Selling Your Company?

Posted on February 14, 2008
Patent infringement settlements sometimes include the drastic remedy of selling your company.  It is the exception, but by no means any longer surprising, when the parties to a patent infringment mediation inform me that the co-defendants have been exploring the option of a buy-out while I was in separate caucus with the plaintiff...

Five Ways to Minimize Risk of Copyright Liability from Citizen Media

Posted on February 14, 2008
We've said this before:  prevention beats every dispute resolution mechanism available so long as you do not limit your own freedom out of fear of liability.  That said, here are the top five tips for using copyrighted material fearlessly from the extraordinarily concise and helpful "Primer on Copyright Liability and Fair Use" from  the Citizen Media Law Project Blog...

What is the Most Difficult Time to Settle Your Patent Infringement Case? Right After a $432 Million Verdict

Posted on February 13, 2008
(if you want to see other photos of heart stents -- the product at issue here -- go to commercial photographer Rick Lee's Blog -- On Location with Rick Lee)  Why would we be talking settlement on the heels of the jury verdict Dickstein Shapiro attorney Gary Hoffman just brought home for his physician-inventor client as reported in law...

Outsourcing IP Work to India? Maybe its Time for a Career Change

Posted on February 12, 2008
Apparently, you can outsource IP work, along with your document management tasks, to India.  At least that's what Howrey's counting on all the while denying that its outsourcing.  Here's an excerpt from Howrey Opens Office in India, Gives Clients Lower-Cost Option,  "It's not outsourcing," insists Robert Ruyak, managing partner and CEO of Howrey, describing his firm's new office in India...

IP ADR Dictionary: "S" is for Story Telling

Posted on February 08, 2008
I was once contacted by one of the writers for the hit series House who wanted to know what the parties may do doing a mediation.  After explaining several current mediation "processes" to him, I said this...

Yes, You Should -- If At All Possible -- Seek Legal Advice When Served With a Cease and Desist Letter

Posted on January 28, 2008
(right:  my attorney)Yesterday I suggested that by reading Professor Marc Randazza's post Copyright vs. Free Speech (etc.) you could learn how to "respond to legal bullying without hiring a lawyer."  When Paul Levy of the Public Citizen Litigation Group asked me what part of the Legal Satyricon's advice I was referring to, I pointed him to Randazza's citation of the Streisand Effect, the story of which reads as follows:A few years ago, Kenneth Adelman posted aerial photos of Barbara Streisand’s home on the intertubes...

Copyrighting Comedy

Posted on January 28, 2008
Thanks to Les Weinstein for hipping us to Mark Lacter's Daily Dragon -- this item on Jay Leno's federal copyright infringement action.  It's always been a pretty gray area, but don't tell that to Jay Leno and Rita Rudner who have settled a federal copyright lawsuit against author Judy Brown and several book publishers...

Cease and Desist Letter Posting Not Likely to Constitute Infringement

Posted on January 27, 2008
Reading the news in the blogosphere is sort of like reading your opponent's brief for the first time -- you're pretty certain you know that's not the law, but if you don't read the cases cited, it looks pretty nauseatingly right.  Nauseating because it makes your arguments about your client's legal rights ...

Ninth Circuit Decides Comedy Club Arbitration Battle

Posted on January 23, 2008
Mr. Thrifty and I have been known to walk to the IMPROV (Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman, and before Mr. T., even Rosanne Barr before she was Rosanne).  The club is right around the corner from our little neighborhood -- the one that's recently been renamed "Beverly Grove" in honor of the two shopping centers that anchor it firmly in L...

Is Copyright Protection One of the Interests We're Willing to Give Up Net Freedom For?

Posted on January 23, 2008
I don't purport to be an expert in the field of internet monitoring for the prevention of copyright infringement -- though the word "prevention" does suggest prior restraints on free speech.   Because we are here at the commencement of the development of the law in regard to internet freedom, all lawyers, not just IP lawyers, should take an interest and let themselves be heard...

The American Car Industry: Lose Your Market & Intentionally Alienate Your Fans

Posted on January 19, 2008
I'm posting a photo of a 1956 Chevy instead of the 1956 Ford I remember being my family's first new car because Ford apparently doesn't want anyone to promote their vehicles.  Image from Military.com's "Ride of the Week."Read on below:Thanks again to Plagiarism Today's Weekend Linkroll for continuing to follow companies in self-destruct mode down their own garden paths...

When it Comes to Web Searches, We're Incompetent and Irritable: What's an IP Litigator to Do?

Posted on January 17, 2008
Recently, I've noticed Yahoo telling me the number of seconds I've been waiting to get my hands on my email when it doesn't appear instantaneously.  I'm  a little abashed when I realize I'm already getting annoyed by the time Yahoo  informs me I've been waiting for only 22...

Patently O Identifies Top IP Law Schools

Posted on January 14, 2008
Here's a law school ranking list for that small but elite group of aspirants to the legal trade -- engineers who want to be lawyers (my brain burns at the cognitive dissonance)  -- Dennis Crouch's Top Thirty [Law School] Patent Programs (Ranked by Patently-O Hits!)Here are the top ten -- George Washington; University of Texas at Austin; DePaul; Columbia; U...

Domain Name Disputes on the Rise and Resolved Primarily in Favor of Trademark Holders

Posted on January 12, 2008
The Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports Domain-Name Disputes at an All-Time High. What interests me is not the number of complaints filed by trademark owners against cybersquatters under the “Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy” (UDRP) -- 1 in 1999 and 2,156 in 2007 -- but WIPO's report that "[a]bout 85% of trademark owners prevail when they bring these complaints...

Colm Brannigan and Michael Erdle on Mediating Canadian I.T. Disputes

Posted on January 09, 2008
Ontario-based mediator Colm Brannigan * has passed along a valuable article on the mediation of Information Technology disputes from a June '07 Ontario Bar Journal publication.  The article, Resolving I.T. Disputes through ADR -- Part I Mediation was written by Colm with his co-author Michael Erdle...

What Lawyers are Looking for from Mediators

Posted on January 08, 2008
Thanks to Colm Brannigan for posing this question to the LinkedIn Legal Community:  What Qualities Do Counsel Look for in a Mediator?  We've already posted -- here -- the answer of L.A. Sheppard Mullin attorney Jim Burgess. Below, we give you the thorough and insightful answer of Vermont attorney, mediator and arbitrator Richard Cassidy of Hoff Curtis...

Threats, Lawsuits Fail to Revive Industry & Fool Says Don't Rush In

Posted on January 05, 2008
Plagiarism Today continues to provide us with the best aggregation of IP news every week in its  Saturday Linkroll.  Today we're linked to Corante's post "Even Fools Don't Invest in the Music Business," noting the Motley Fool's warning (We're All Thieves to the RIAA) thata good sign of a dying industry that investors might want to avoid is when it would rather litigate than innovate, signaling a potential destroyer of value...

RIP YES; SHARE NO: THE RIAA SPEAKS

Posted on January 04, 2008
Direct from NPR to Engadget to our readers:Speaking to NPR, RIAA president Cary Sherman . . . said . . . that the RIAA hasn't ever prosecuted anyone for ripping or copying for personal use, and that the only issue in the Jeffrey Howell case was -- as always -- sharing files on Kazaa...

When a "Cease and Desist" Letter is the ADR of Choice

Posted on January 04, 2008
Take a look at this excellent article -- Pirates Stealing Content from Rival Website -- by Florida Gunster Yoakley lawyers David Bates and Meenu  Sasser.This one-page article is well-worth reading if you or your clients possess anything of value on the internet that can be "scraped" by pirates...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.