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Accounting for Patent-Holding Companies in Infringement Litigation
For a variety of reasons, manufacturers owning patent rights may find it beneficial to assign their patents to a patent-holding company set up as a wholly owned subsidiary of the manufacturer. Using a holding company to manage a patent portfolio may permit the holding company to take advantage of favorable state tax treatment of licensing revenues. Through the use of a royalty-paying grant-back license to the manufacturer, placing patents in a holding company may help produce a tax deduction for the manufacturer. Administrative conveniences of having one corporate entity focus on maintaining and maximizing the return on patent rights may also justify transferring a manufacturer's patents to a holding company. Some also believe that having a holding company, rather than the manufacturer, enforce patent rights in litigation can make the litigation process easier on the manufacturer.
Whether due to any of the foregoing or for other reasons, it seems evident that many manufacturers have used, and continue to use, patent-holding companies as a vehicle for managing their patents. Transferring a patent to a patent-holding company can impact aspects of enforcing the transferred patent in litigation, especially in regard to standing to bring suit and the ability to recover a manufacturer's lost-profit damages. For the reasons that follow, accused infringers faced with a claim of lost-profit damages in a suit for patent infringement should investigate the ownership history of the asserted patent and determine whether at anytime during the alleged period of infringement a patent-holding company held the rights to the asserted patent.
Standing
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
Removing Restrictive Covenants In New York
In Rockwell v. Despart, the New York Supreme Court, Third Department, recently revisited a recurring question: When may a landowner seek judicial removal of a covenant restricting use of her land?