Noted Wilson Sonsini Patent Lawyer Dies in Plane Crash

A Silicon Valley patent lawyer who focused on cutting edge biotechnology died Friday evening when the single-engine plane he was flying crashed and burst into flames. The lawyer, Albert Halluin, was an experienced pilot who commuted by plane to his job in Palo Alto, Calif., the San Jose Mercury News…

Feb 22, 2010 12:44 PM CST

Can Patent Holders Buy Off Infringers? Courts Take Another Look

For the second time in three years a case about “reverse payments” is before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. And this time the New York City-based court may ignore its own binding precedent and do a sharp about-face on the issue. The last time the 2nd Circuit considered…

Feb 15, 2010 2:01 PM CST

The Flip Side of ‘Reverse Payments’

Can patent holders buy off infringers? Courts take another look

Feb 1, 2010 9:00 AM CST

Scott Brown’s Chief Campaign Lawyer Seeks Snow-Slogan Patent

A Duane Morris partner who led the legal team for Republican Scott Brown, the winner of the Massachusetts special Senate election, dealt with the usual issues: campaign finance, ethics, and communications regulations. But lawyer Daniel Winslow tells the National Law Journal he also helped develop policy proposals and even applied…

Jan 21, 2010 12:59 PM CST

Two US Nonprofits Challenge Patent on Nutrition Paste

Two U.S. nonprofits are challenging a patent on Plumpy’nut paste, a high-protein food developed for those who are severely malnourished. The nonprofits, Breedlove Foods Inc. and the Mama Cares Foundation, contend the patent is so broad that it appears to apply to several products already on the market, the Associated…

Jan 13, 2010 1:10 PM CST

Patent Pending

A plan to help some federal judges wade deeper into the pool of patent cases is awaiting U.S. Senate approval—just like it has for two congressional sessions.

Jan 2, 2010 4:40 AM CST

Appeals Court: Microsoft Owes $290M, Must Alter Word or Stop Sales By Jan. 11

Upholding a small company’s stunning patent-infringement win against the world’s biggest software seller, a federal appeals court today not only upheld a $290 million verdict in favor of I4i LP but ruled that Microsoft Corp. must either alter its Word software by Jan. 11 or stop selling the popular product,…

Dec 22, 2009 7:04 PM CST

Retiring Federal Circuit Chief Judge Ready to Be ‘Unmuzzled’

Chief Judge Paul Michel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has no plans to join a corporation or a law firm when he retires next May. Instead, Michel says he will be operating “as an individual private citizen,” possibly in a new solo consulting practice or…

Nov 24, 2009 1:49 PM CST

Patent Pending: How to Get an Interview with the PTO Chief

David Kappos, former vice president and assistant general counsel for intellectual property at IBM, was hired as the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to flush the bottleneck of patent applications. It takes more than 20 months for the agency to take its first action on a patent…

Nov 17, 2009 8:16 PM CST

Intel Agrees to Pay AMD $1.25B, Hires WilmerHale Partner as GC

The chipmaker Intel has hired a new general counsel and reached an agreement to pay Advanced Micro Devices $1.25 billion ito resolve all antitrust and patent cross-license disputes between the two companies. “Wowza,” the Wall Street Journal Law Blog writes. “Color us surprised. For a while there, the AMD/Intel antitrust…

Nov 12, 2009 5:45 PM CST

Justices Consider Patentability of Speed Dating and Horse Whispering

Justice Stephen G. Breyer says he has a “great, wonderful, really original method of teaching antitrust law”—it keeps 80 percent of his students awake. Can the method be patented? he asked in oral arguments yesterday.

The hypothetical was one of several bandied about as the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether patents can be issued for business methods that aren’t tied to a machine or don’t involve a physical transformation.

In Bilski v. Kappos, justices suggested hypotheticals “that they clearly found ludicrous,” the New York Times reports. According to the National Law Journal, some of the justices’ comments in the long-awaited argument “bordered on the derisive.”

Nov 10, 2009 2:53 PM CST

‘Math Geek’ Tells of ‘Staggering’ Legal Fees in Patent Case to Be Argued Today

Since 1997, Rand Warsaw and Bernie Bilski have been pursuing a patent on their mathematical method that helps utility companies offer uniform energy bills to consumers by hedging transactions against weather patterns. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the legal issue in Bilski v. Kappos—whether patents can be granted…

Nov 9, 2009 2:56 PM CST

Foley & Lardner IP Practice Gets Boost from $208M Gov’t Contract

A $208 million contract to provide intellectual property services to the National Institutes of Health for up to 10 years has been awarded to Foley & Lardner. The Milwaukee-based law firm, which has 240 attorneys in its IP practice, expects to begin work immediately on contested proceedings involving patents for…

Oct 28, 2009 10:36 PM CDT

Nokia Sues Apple Over iPhone Technology, Seeks Unspecified Royalties

Nokia Oyj has sued Apple Inc.over the technology used in the company’s iPhone, contending that it infringes on 10 patents held by the world’s largest phone manufacturer. The suit, which was filed in federal court in Delaware, seeks royalties from Apple dating back to the iPhone’s introduction in 2007 but…

Oct 22, 2009 4:51 PM CDT

3rd Circuit Nixes Lawyer’s $14M Age Suit Despite ‘Younger & Cheaper’ Note

Even though his employment file at Moser Patterson & Sheridan contained a note “older & better paid/younger & cheaper,” attorney John Kelly’s age discrimination suit against the New Jersey law firm was properly dismissed on summary judgment, a federal appeals court has ruled. Kelly was 52 when he was fired…

Oct 15, 2009 9:10 PM CDT