Patent Law

Judge Overturns Rule Changes to Streamline the Patent Process

A federal judge in Virginia has ruled the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office doesn’t have the authority to make rule changes designed to streamline the patent process. Patent applicants had been “apoplectic” over the PTO proposal, which was designed to make the patent process more efficient by encouraging patent applicants…

Apr 2, 2008 2:26 PM CDT

Discovery Debacle: How Not to Duplicate Qualcomm’s E-Mail Issues

After some $10 million in court-ordered penalties, attorney sanctions and a switch of both in-house and outside counsel, it is clear that Qualcomm Inc. didn’t handle its discovery obligations in a patent dispute with Broadcom Corp. in an optimal manner. But despite these severe sanctions over 46,000 e-mails that Qualcomm…

Mar 6, 2008 1:32 AM CST

Troll Tracker Outs Himself, $15K Reward Remains Unclaimed

The anonymous author of the Patent Troll Tracker blog has revealed that he is Richard Frenkel, an intellectual property lawyer who is a director in Cisco Systems’ IP group. Frenkel said he decided to out himself after he received an e-mail threat from someone who threatened to go public with…

Feb 26, 2008 12:23 PM CST

McDermott Ordered to Pay Attorney Fees for ‘Abuse of Advocacy’

A federal judge in Colorado has ordered McDermott Will & Emery and one of its clients to pay the legal fees of an opponent in a patent infringement case because of “abuse of advocacy.” U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch chastised two McDermott lawyers, Terrence McMahon and Vera Elson, in his…

Feb 15, 2008 12:57 PM CST

Bell Boyd Raids 2 San Diego Firms, Opens New Office

A well-known Chicago-based firm is establishing a West Coast presence, raiding two San Diego law offices to open a six-attorney outpost there. (It will also be staffed from the outset with seven Ph.D-credentialed specialists, and two of the lawyers apparently have Ph.Ds, too.) The partners at the helm of Bell,…

Feb 13, 2008 11:15 PM CST

Sixth-Highest Patent Verdict Reported

A federal jury in Texas has awarded a New Jersey radiologist $431.9 million in a suit against Boston Scientific Corp. for infringing his patent for a heart stent. Plaintiff Bruce Saffran has also sued Johnson & Johnson in another infringement suit related to stents, the Wall Street Journal reports. The…

Feb 13, 2008 4:54 PM CST

Hedge Fund Sues Over General Counsel’s $10M Bonus

A hedge fund has filed a lawsuit claiming that a $10 million bonus awarded to the general counsel of Transmeta Corp. is “outrageous, illegal and unconscionable.” The stockholder’s derivative suit was filed by Riley Investment Management, which owns about 7 percent of Transmeta and has offered to buy the company,…

Feb 12, 2008 11:45 AM CST

$5K DePaul Student Award Honors Slain IP Lawyer

A $5,000 award has been established in memory of a Chicago intellectual property lawyer who was murdered in a shooting rampage at his law firm in late 2006. The scholarship will be awarded to a third-year student at DePaul University College of Law who is “expected to make the greatest…

Feb 5, 2008 12:39 AM CST

Reinventing Patent Law

The pendulum is swinging for a system that has long favored the rights of patent holders

Feb 1, 2008 3:50 PM CST

Federal Circuit Rules for TiVo in Key DVR Case

In an important case involving “time-shifting” video recording technology, a federal appeals court has ruled that EchoStar Holding Corp. and Dish Network Corp. have been illegally using the software created by TiVo Inc. Thursday’s decision (PDF) by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, comes as TiVo, based…

Jan 31, 2008 10:56 PM CST

Coughlin Stoia Forms IP Group With Two Duane Morris Lawyers

Securities class-action powerhouse Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins has announced formation of a practice group in Atlanta to pursue patent litigation. The group will represent inventors and universities in suits against corporations, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Darren Robbins, a founding partner of the San Diego firm, said the…

Jan 31, 2008 3:33 PM CST

Partner Offers $10K Bounty for Blogger’s Identity

A Chicago lawyer who is being criticized, along with his law firm, in an anonymous Internet blog supposedly authored by a fellow attorney has offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who can provide him with the identity of “Troll Tracker.” The anonymous blogger, who claims to be “just a lawyer;…

Jan 22, 2008 11:28 PM CST

Breyer Uses Bike Hypo to Oppose Backpedaling on Patent Doctrine

Several U.S. Supreme Court justices appear ready to limit patent holders’ ability to demand license fees from multiple companies in a manufacturing process. Stephen G. Breyer was among the justices who appeared to favor limiting patent rights, the Associated Press reports. He suggested during oral arguments yesterday that an electronics…

Jan 17, 2008 1:09 PM CST

BigLaw Associate Moonlights as ER Doc

As if being a BigLaw associate wasn’t more than enough work for any ordinary attorney, one such California lawyer is moonlighting at a night job … as an emergency room physician. Okey Onyejekwe earned his M.D. degree in 2000 from Ohio State University, and began working in the emergency room…

Jan 7, 2008 10:52 PM CST

eBay Owes $30M for ‘Buy It Now’ Patent Infringement

A $30 million payday is pending for a Virginia company that owns a patent on the “Buy It Now” mechanism that allows online eBay auction bidders the alternative of purchasing an item immediately at a preset price. A federal judge in Norfolk, Va., declined yesterday to overturn a previous jury…

Dec 12, 2007 10:43 PM CST