Features

Implications of 'Amgen v. Sanofi' On the State of Enablement Law
The decision appears to take steps to harmonize the prior cases that appropriately were guided by the Wands factors with the cases discussing the "full scope" of enablement that have engendered some confusion in the law.
Features

Equity In Broad and Flexible Fashion
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
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
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
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
PTAB to Follow Nautilus Standard of Definiteness
Features

Exercising Restraint: Federal Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Declaratory Judgment Action Under Abstention Doctrine
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
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
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'
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.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent TrollsWith trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.Read More ›
- Risks of “Baseball Arbitration” in Resolving Real Estate Disputes“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.Read More ›
- Private Equity Valuation: A Significant DecisionInsiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.Read More ›
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe 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.Read More ›
- The DOJ Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity LitigationWhile the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.Read More ›