Patent Law

More on Cha/Flamm and the californiastemcellreport

Posted on April 25, 2008
There are two comments on the californiastemcellreport post titled Flamm Wins Latest Round Against Korean Stem Cell Researcher, one of which is from a spokesman for Dr. Cha who said, in part:The [Los Angeles] Times quoted the editor of the Korean Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology saying he was certain it was ?a case of multiple publication,? which is not plagiarism, and casts doubt on the truth of the plagiarism allegation...

National Review on Biomedical Patent

Posted on April 25, 2008
Makan Delrahim writes:Heads, I win! Tails, I win! That is essentially how the state of California views the issue of patent infringement. States own thousands of patents and raise millions by licensing them ? and that is good innovation policy. And, when someone infringes their patents, they aggressively use the federal courts to enforce their rights...

Patent reform 2008 as a house of mirrors?

Posted on April 25, 2008
The words could describe intellectual property professors in 2008:Ah, we used to meet for strategy sessions at the University Club --and we were like ten guys in a house of mirrors entrancing each other. We satisfied each other with how smart we were...

John Duffy and Translogic Technology and the BPAI

Posted on April 25, 2008
Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal highlighted work of Professor John Duffy of GWU related to the case Translogic Technology v. Dudas, No. 07-1303, which work questions the constitutionality of appoints of BPAI judges by the USPTO director:Such a constitutional flaw, if legitimate, could call into question the hundreds of decisions worth billions of dollars in the past eight years...

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David Freeland, CIO at USPTO, leaving

Posted on April 25, 2008
FCW reports: David Freeland, who has been chief information officer [CIO] at the Patent and Trademark Office [USPTO] since 2005, has announced his plans to leave the agency.On 22 February 2005, one had the release:Jon Dudas, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the Commerce Department?s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), today administered the oath of office to David J...

Plenty of lawyers available to staff boutiques, contrary to PatentHawk blog

Posted on April 24, 2008
In a post titled A New Kind of Patent Boutique? on 20 April 08 on the PatentHawk blog, Michael Martin wrote text which included:When will our profession give up our pretentious game of arguing that law is so different from any other kind of professional practice? The benefits of cross-disciplinary work would more than outstrip the costs of less uniformity in our thinking about legal doctrine...

New activity on European patent front?

Posted on April 24, 2008
IAM reports of a major breakthrough in the creation of a Community patent in Europe ? a single patent prosecuted at, and granted by, the EPO that would be valid in all EU member states.

Patents and the Commercialization of Innovation

Posted on April 23, 2008
May 15, 2008, Arlington, VA: Patents and the Commercialization of InnovationWill Richard Epstein devour Michael Meurer?

CADC smokes FTC on Rambus; another Jaffe/Lerner argument blown away

Posted on April 23, 2008
In a CNNMoney story titled US Appeals Court Throws Out FTC Ruling Vs Rambus , Riva Richmond writes:A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously vacated the agency's decision [on 22 April 2008] and said a new trial would have to address "serious concerns about the sufficiency of the evidence" in the case...

Are MBAs competent to analyze patent law?

Posted on April 23, 2008
In a post on April 20 titled A New Kind of Patent Boutique?, PatentHawk wrote about the possibility of business students (e.g., persons pursuing MBAs) analyzing patent law for law firms: The benefits of cross-disciplinary work would more than outstrip the costs of less uniformity in our thinking about legal doctrine...

Former BMS VP Bodnar indicted for lying about patent deal

Posted on April 23, 2008
The Wall Street Journal reports: The Department of Justice indicted Andrew Bodnar, former senior vice president of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., for allegedly lying to the federal government about a patent deal for the blood-thinning drug Plavix.See also:http://ipbiz...

The homes of Bush and Gore

Posted on April 23, 2008
An email is circulating comparing the eco-friendliness of the homes of Bush and Gore. Laura Bush was interviewed on national television about the Crawford, Texas home this week.

Fortune on pond scum and biofuels

Posted on April 23, 2008
The last two paragraphs of the Fortune article:That sounds about right: Algae-energy research is bubbling with new ideas and talent and is beginning to get backing from venture capital. "In the past the money in this area went only to academics," says Matt Caspari, CEO of Aurora BioFuels in Alameda, Calif...

Someone arguing "too few lawyers"; say it's not so!

Posted on April 23, 2008
The blog PatentHawk (through Michael Martin) wrote:That pool of talent hasn't grown much in decades, even as the demand for legal services has exploded. In further support of this, there was a comment:http://www.abanet.org/legaled/statistics/charts/stats%20-%201...

Where's the beef, Mike?

Posted on April 22, 2008
Mike has posted four comments in about two days, but not one of them offers any evidence to back up the remark he made on TechDirt: With the USPTO approving tons of bad patents ... Mike writes It's funny (laughably funny) that you assume that a lack of studies showing something means that bad patents aren't getting through...

Mike Masnick, the "emperor" with no clothes

Posted on April 22, 2008
Once again, Mike Masnick took exception to a post on IPBiz. One response to Mike's content-less arguments is simplyres ipsa loquitor. But take a look at how he avoided giving any substance to his position:IPBiz said: IPBiz notes that the National Academy of Sciences report on patents does NOT confirm what Mike says...

Victoria's Secret: sellers of "Very Sexy 100-Way Strapless Convertible Bra " sued for patent infringement

Posted on April 22, 2008
The New York Times reports: The [Victoria's Secret] bra is, according to the lawsuit, the intellectual creation of Katerina Plew, a Long Island paralegal, who registered it under United States Patent No. 6,733,362 in May 2004. Ms. Plew, who is 38, contends that Victoria?s Secret stole, then mass-produced, her specialized design.

Mike Masnick, unbundled

Posted on April 22, 2008
Mike Masnick took exception to some remarks in the IPBiz post, Dudas unbundled, by Mike [?]Mike had posted at TechDirt: With the USPTO approving tons of bad patents, and the courts all too often siding with the patent holder and expanding what's patentable, combined with people who have done nothing getting hundreds of millions just for holding a piece of paper, is it really any surprise that the incentive structure would push people to file for as many bogus patents as possible, in hopes of getting them through the obviously questionable process? IPBiz notes that the National Academy of Sciences report on patents does NOT confirm what Mike says...

Dudas unbundled, by Mike [?]

Posted on April 21, 2008
Slashdot refers to Techdirt on Dudas:Techdirt is reporting that Jon Dudas, head of the US Patent Office, is lamenting the continuing quality drop in patent submissions. Unfortunately, while this problem is finally getting the attention it deserves, the changes being implemented don't seem to be offering the correct solution...

K.Y. Cha's suit against Flamm tossed by Superior Court (again!)

Posted on April 21, 2008
K.Y. Cha's defamation suit against Bruce Flamm was dismissed on 21 April 2008. It had previously been dismissed, but then re-instated.The following is a press release from Dr. Flamm:COURT VINDICATES DOCTOR WHO QUESTIONED FERTILITY STUDY, THROWS OUT KWANG YUL CHA'S DEFAMATION LAWSUIT AGAINST BRUCE FLAMMApril 21, 2008--Los Angeles, CA -- In 2001, a study was published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine claiming that prayers from the USA, Canada, and Australia caused a 100% increase in pregnancy rates among infertility patients in Korea...

"Florida Prepaid" to be re-visited in "Biomedical Patent?

Posted on April 21, 2008
The case is Biomedical Patent Management Corp. v. California Department of Health Services, 07-956, and it relates to 11th Amendment sovereign immunity in patent cases, a topic previously covered in Florida Prepaid Postsecondary, a case which declared part of the patent act unconstitutional...

Duh, why do law firms hire only from law schools?

Posted on April 20, 2008
PatentHawk in a post A New Kind of Patent Boutique? wrote:But law firms hire only from law schools. Why should that be? State bar exams have little or nothing to do with practicing securities or patent law. The multi-state portion of these exams is based on the common law of England from over 500 years ago! It has to be -- that's the only body of law in English that doesn't change from year to year...

Is Apple Computer going troll?

Posted on April 20, 2008
There's some buzz about a patent application of Apple published on 17 April 08, titled Enhancing online shopping atmosphere, which has a first claim:A method of representing activity in an online store comprising:receiving information associated with the activities of a second visitor to the store;receiving an indication of the presence of a first visitor at the store; anddisplaying to the first visitor a representation of the activities of the second visitor...

AUTM on prizes and patent pools

Posted on April 20, 2008
In a post titled -- University patent managers versus developing countries--, James Love discusses positions of AUTM [Association of University Technology Managers] on prizes and patent pools.On prizes themselves, see previous IPBiz post: New Look for journal Science on 28 March 2008 about Prize4Life and InnoCentive...

Plagiarist suffers on Law & Order

Posted on April 19, 2008
On 19 April 2008, Law & Order: Criminal Intent viewers got to see that Detective Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) really does not likeplagiarists ("voice stealers") as he grabbed the Peter Coyote character (named Lionel Shill ) by the arm and forced a verbal admission...

Former clients sue Howrey, Howrey partner over bad patent deal

Posted on April 19, 2008
Jonathan Fox writes:Two former clients have sued Howrey partner Michael S. Dowler and the firm [Howrey], alleging breach of fiduciary duty after an alleged deal to buy a patent for $1 million went sour.The case is Guardian Media Technologies Ltd., et al...

California clueless? Myelofibrosis debate a remake of Dumb and Dumber?

Posted on April 19, 2008
IPBiz continues to get chuckles at the "back and forth" on californiastemcellreport on "how much" credit CIRM should be getting on the myelofibrosis work. Of course, none of these people are talking about who would get the most financial benefit if the science took off...

Wall Street Journal on meltdown of S.1145 on patent reform

Posted on April 18, 2008
Greg Hitt wrote: Negotiations among key senators have reached an impasse, forcing Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, to give up plans to bring the bill to the Senate floor this week. It isn't clear when, or even if, the measure might reach the floor...

On CIRM taking credit for myelofibrosis work

Posted on April 18, 2008
There have been a few posts on californiastemcellreport on the issue of CIRM claiming credit for a research discovery that, perhaps, CIRM did not have much to do with. [For example, CIRM Exaggerates Role in San Diego Clinical Trials Research, Scientist SaysIPBiz had an April 9 post on the science itself: Myelofibrosis, CIRM, and patents...

Ever wonder why college tuition is so high?

Posted on April 17, 2008
The 14 April 2008 issue of the Bridgewater Courier-News had a story on "higher education salaries" which included the text:McCormick earns a $525,000 salary, while Rutgers' football coach Greg Schiano pulls in a base salary of $450,000. Two other university employees earn at least $300,000 a year, according to the most recent data available...

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