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Revisiting Obviousness
Many technology companies believe the current law on obviousness hinders product development by extending patent protection to insignificant advances. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ('CAFC') reconfigured the obviousness framework established by the Supreme Court to limit the subjectivity of obviousness determinations by adding a 'teaching-suggestion-motivation' test, which is at the heart of a case the Supreme Court has recently agreed to consider. In Teleflex, the CAFC applied the 'teaching-suggestion-motivation' test in vacating a lower court finding of obviousness. Teleflex Inc. v. KSR Intern. Co., 119 Fed.Appx. 282 (Fed. Cir. 2005). Substantially unchecked to date, this will be the first full hearing on the obviousness doctrine in more than 30 years.
In 1966, the Supreme Court introduced a multi-factored obviousness framework involving the consideration of the scope and content of the prior art which measured the differences between the patented invention and the prior art against the backdrop of the ordinary level of skill of people working in the field at the time of invention. Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 17 (1966). The Supreme Court realized the difficulty of recognizing non-obviousness in hindsight and allowed the weighing of secondary considerations, including economic and motivational factors as objective indicators of non-obviousness. Id. The Federal Circuit supplemented the Supreme Court's obviousness doctrine with its 'teaching-suggestion-motivation' test to protect against the entry of hindsight into the obviousness analysis in all cases ' not just those in which evidence is offered of these secondary considerations. In re Kahn, 441 F.3d 977, 986 (Fed. Cir. 2006).
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
How AI Has Affected PR
When we consider how the use of AI affects legal PR and communications, we have to look at it as an industrywide global phenomenon. A recent online conference provided an overview of the latest AI trends in public relations, and specifically, the impact of AI on communications. Here are some of the key points and takeaways from several of the speakers, who provided current best practices, tips, concerns and case studies.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.