Patent Peace: The PTO creates a new office to harmonize the global patent system

Oct 1, 2014 4:30 AM CDT

Patent lawyer faces $5.9M malpractice suit over wrong bra-insert dimensions

A BigLaw attorney got the drawings right in a patent application for silicone bra inserts intended to enhance the purchaser’s cleavage. But Bernard Codd of McDermott Will & Emery didn’t accurately describe the inserts in the written portion of a 2009 patent application, leaving now-former client Debra MacKinnon without enforceable…

Aug 19, 2014 5:40 PM CDT

Government paralegals making up to $80K had little work to do, report says

Dozens of paralegals hired in 2009 to combat a growing backlog of patent appeals were often idle because a hiring freeze halted hiring of judges to hear the cases, according to a new report. The work-at-home paralegals filled their time surfing the Internet, doing household tasks, watching TV and exercising,…

Aug 1, 2014 12:53 PM CDT

Federal Circuit gets reined in over patent fees in infringement suits

Jul 1, 2014 8:50 AM CDT

Samsung and Quinn Emanuel must pay $2M for revealing ‘attorneys’ eyes only’ info, judge rules

A major law firm and its client must pay a patent litigation opponent more than $2 million in legal fees and costs, a federal judge in California has ruled. The award covers the expense of litigating a sanctions motion and discovery dispute over the revelation of “attorneys’ eyes only” information…

Jun 24, 2014 6:10 PM CDT

Computer software based on an abstract idea isn’t eligible for a patent, SCOTUS rules

Computer software that is based on an abstract idea isn’t eligible for a patent, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. The unanimous opinion (PDF) by Justice Clarence Thomas was a defeat for the Alice Corp., which sought to enforce patents on a computer program that helps foreign-exchange buyers and sellers…

Jun 19, 2014 3:04 PM CDT

Law firm websites need to step up their game for Google | Dodging spammers while using autoreply

Law firm websites that focus on keywords rather than quality content are now losing the SEO battle, the Colorado Bar Association’s SOLO in COLO writes. New Google algorithms mean that firms need to publish original, meaningful content on a regular basis. “Law-firm sites that regularly showed up on page one…

Jun 6, 2014 1:30 PM CDT

No liability for induced infringement when company and customer split patented steps, SCOTUS says

A technology company isn’t liable for inducing patent infringement when it performs some steps of a method patent and encourages others to take the remaining steps, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. The court ruled on behalf of Internet services company Limelight Networks in a unanimous opinion (PDF) by Justice…

Jun 2, 2014 4:33 PM CDT

Federal Circuit’s chief judge resigns leadership post after email controversy

Judge Randall Rader of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has announced his resignation as chief judge of the court following a controversy over an email he sent to a BigLaw partner. The court announced on Friday that Rader will step down as chief judge at the…

May 23, 2014 2:56 PM CDT

Patent trolls are getting First Amendment protection for their demand letters

May 1, 2014 9:00 AM CDT

Supreme Court eases standard for award of attorney fees in patent litigation

The Federal Circuit’s standards for the award of attorney fees in patent cases are “unduly rigid,” the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. The Supreme Court issued opinions in two attorney fee cases today, including one cast as an avenue to deter frivolous litigation by patent trolls. The opinions ease the…

Apr 29, 2014 2:56 PM CDT

Attendees’ smartphones cause courtroom chaos at latest Apple-Samsung patent trial

It isn’t just smartphone technology that’s at issue in a high-profile Silicon Valley trial in which two leading manufacturers of the devices are battling over patent rights. Attendees at the much-watched San Jose, Calif., trial between Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. are trying the patience of U.S. District Judge…

Apr 9, 2014 3:45 PM CDT

Blog offers immigration help to Nigella Lawson | Celeb podcaster fights patent troll

It was reported by The Daily Mail and other news outlets this week that celebrity chef Nigella Lawson was turned away from boarding a Los Angeles-bound flight from London. A U.S. embassy spokeswoman would not tell CNN why Lawson had been stopped. At Lifted Lamp, the law firm Benach Ragland…

Apr 4, 2014 1:30 PM CDT

Former Mintz Levin IP practice leader among 6-partner life sciences team joining Cooley

A former co-chair of the intellectual property practice group at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo is among a six-partner life sciences team joining the Boston and New York offices of Cooley. Announced Tuesday by their new law firm, the move by former co-chair Ivor R. Elrifi, Heidi A.…

Apr 3, 2014 9:05 PM CDT

SCOTUS to consider deference standard in patent appeals in case of MS drug

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday accepted a case involving patents for the multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone. The issue in the case is how much deference should be given findings of fact by trial judges in patent infringement litigation, report the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), SCOTUSblog, Bloomberg News and…

Apr 1, 2014 2:48 PM CDT