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Features

Equity In Broad and Flexible Fashion Image

Equity In Broad and Flexible Fashion

Kelvin Han

Federal Circuit Wasn't Chicken to Grant Equitable Intervening Right in Poultry Processing Equipment Case A dispute between the two titans in the poultry processing equipment market led the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to construe the term "protection of investments" in 35 U.S.C. §252.

Features

A Unique Solution to COVID-19-Related Delays At the U.S. International Trade Commission Image

A Unique Solution to COVID-19-Related Delays At the U.S. International Trade Commission

Robert Angle & Brittanee Petrik

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ITC was forced to suspend in-person hearings and halt its fast-paced schedules while it explored existing technological resources and reliable and secure options available for video conferencing that would protect parties' confidential business information (CBI).

Features

Patent Litigation Growth In 2020 Points to Sustained Activity In 2021 Image

Patent Litigation Growth In 2020 Points to Sustained Activity In 2021

Rob Maier

Despite the recession — or partly as a result of it — 2020 was also a year of growth for patent litigation in the United States. This article provides a look back at patent litigation filing statistics in recent years across district courts in the United States, with an eye toward current trends that in all likelihood will continue deep into 2021.

Columns & Departments

IP News Image

IP News

Jeffrey Ginsberg & Ryan J. Sheehan

Federal Circuit: Texas Court Abused Its Discretion By Delaying On Venue Transfer Motion While Proceeding With the Merits of the Case Federal Circuit: PTAB Violates the APA When It Sua Sponte Adopts a New Claim Construction to Support New Theory of Invalidity for First Time

Columns & Departments

IP News Image

IP News

Howard Shire & Shaleen J. Patel

PTAB to Follow Nautilus Standard of Definiteness

Features

Exercising Restraint: Federal Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Declaratory Judgment Action Under Abstention Doctrine Image

Exercising Restraint: Federal Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Declaratory Judgment Action Under Abstention Doctrine

Rudy Kim & James Hancock

The Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a declaratory judgment action based on the "abstention doctrine," despite the declaratory judgment plaintiff's insistence that the underlying contract dispute required resolution of patent validity and claim scope that were within the federal courts' exclusive purview.

Features

USPTO Sets Precedent on Collective Patent Defense Groups with RPX Ruling Image

USPTO Sets Precedent on Collective Patent Defense Groups with RPX Ruling

Scott Graham

It took two years and a last-minute substitution of judges for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to rule that RPX Corp. was too close to a dues-paying member to bring a patent validity challenge.

Columns & Departments

IP News Image

IP News

Joshua R. Stein & Jeff Ginsberg

Federal Circuit: Post-Employment Assignment Clause Void Under California Law Federal Circuit No New Trial for Improper "Pennies on the Dollar" Rhetoric

Features

Recently Introduced Bill Would Limit ITC 'Domestic Industry by Subpoena' Image

Recently Introduced Bill Would Limit ITC 'Domestic Industry by Subpoena'

Robert Maier

Patent infringement disputes in the United States are not only heard in district courts. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) also decides high-stakes intellectual property disputes — with the remedy for the IP rights holder not being damages, but rather an exclusion order that can block a competitor's importation of infringing articles into the U.S. That remedy can be incredibly powerful for companies engaged in stiff competition in the U.S. market.

Columns & Departments

IP News Image

IP News

Jeff Ginsberg & George Soussou

Federal Circuit: HP Not Estopped from Challenging Claims Deemed Unchallengeable in IPR That It Had Joined Federal Circuit: A New Process Does Not Transform an Old Product Into a New One

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MOST POPULAR STORIES

  • The 'Sophisticated Insured' Defense
    A majority of courts consider the <i>contra proferentem</i> doctrine to be a pillar of insurance law. The doctrine requires ambiguous terms in an insurance policy to be construed against the insurer and in favor of coverage for the insured. A prominent rationale behind the doctrine is that insurance policies are usually standard-form contracts drafted entirely by insurers.
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  • Abandoned and Unused Cables: A Hidden Liability Under the 2002 National Electric Code
    In an effort to minimize the release of toxic gasses from cables in the event of fire, the 2002 version of the National Electric Code ("NEC"), promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association, sets forth new guidelines requiring that abandoned cables must be removed from buildings unless they are located in metal raceways or tagged "For Future Use." While the NEC is not, in itself, binding law, most jurisdictions in the United States adopt the NEC by reference in their state or local building and fire codes. Thus, noncompliance with the recent NEC guidelines will likely mean that a building is in violation of a building or fire code. If so, the building owner may also be in breach of agreements with tenants and lenders and may be jeopardizing its fire insurance coverage. Even in jurisdictions where the 2002 NEC has not been adopted, it may be argued that the guidelines represent the standard of reasonable care and could result in tort liability for the landlord if toxic gasses from abandoned cables are emitted in a fire. With these potential liabilities in mind, this article discusses: 1) how to address the abandoned wires and cables currently located within the risers, ceilings and other areas of properties, and 2) additional considerations in the placement and removal of telecommunications cables going forward.
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