The Strategy Toolbox
Researchers and technology managers may not deal with IP every day like IP professionals do, but they are still exposed to all sorts of patent strategy tools, especially when they are attempting to develop a patent strategy for a business. The advertisements for these tools typically imply that life would be so much simpler if only they used the vendor's latest and greatest tool. Many of these tools are very useful; however, most tools also have limitations. Having a framework from which to evaluate these tools is therefore helpful to researchers and managers.
Five Reasons to Do a Trademark Audit
While a company's brands are among its most critical and valuable business assets, too little attention is usually devoted to identifying, developing, protecting and exploiting those assets. Gaps in trademark asset protection are often not discovered until a company seeks to enforce or is forced to defend its brands and encounters obstacles that could have been avoided.
IP News
Highlights of the latest intellectual property news and cases from around the country.
Tips for Effective Patent Application Drafting and Patent Prosecution
By now, patent attorneys who do a fair amount of patent application drafting and patent prosecution should be well versed in the fairly recent PTO rule changes dealing with various aspects of patent prosecution. Rather than discuss those rule changes, this article discusses 10 tips for better patent application drafting and patent prosecution. The first two tips deal with patent application drafting, the next four tips deal with prosecution of a patent application, the next three tips deal with things to do after receiving a notice of allowance, and the last tip deals with all stages of patent prosecution.
Tangential Equivalents: Recent Case Confirms There Is Life After Festo
On Oct. 4, 2004, the Federal Circuit rendered its opinion in <i>Insituform Techs., Inc. v. Cat Contracting, Inc.</i> ("<i>Insituform IV</i>"), 385 F.3d 1360 (Fed. Cir. 2004). This opinion is the first post-<i>Festo</i> Federal Circuit opinion that finds a successful rebuttal of the <i>Festo</i> presumption (<i>eg</i>, the presumption of the surrender of infringement under the doctrine of equivalents due to prosecution history estoppel) based on the "tangential relationship" prong of <i>Festo</i>. This case seems to set a fairly low bar for the rebuttal of the presumption. This is a significant development given the Federal Circuit's apparent desire to restrict the doctrine of equivalents (as reflected in its initial <i>Festo</i> ruling that was reversed by the Supreme Court, as well as by the tenor of the post-reversal <i>Festo</i> opinion).
Taxing the Patent Laws
This past October, Rep. Howard Berman (D. Calif.) introduced the Patent Quality Assistance Act of 2004 (H.R. 5299, the "PQA Act"). The PQA Act seeks to implement many of the recommendations of the much-publicized FTC (October 2003) and National Research Council (April 2004) reports. The bill has been referred to the Judiciary Committee, which is not expected to act on it before the end of the 108th Congress. Rep. Berman introduced the bill at the end of this Congress, however, "with the intent of framing the debate going into the 109th Congress." 150 Cong. Rec. 1935.
IP News
Highlights of the latest intellectual property news from around the country.
ITC Filings Surge in 2004
Attorneys have rushed to the border in 2004 to enforce patent rights. In the first 6 months of 2004, the International Trade Commission ("ITC" or "Commission") has received more complaints to uphold patent rights than in any previous year except for 2001. It is anticipated that by the end of the year, the ITC will have experienced its most active year for patent litigation ever. Two key factors are helping to fuel an expansion of patent litigation at the ITC: the ability to pursue parallel actions before both the ITC and Federal District Court, and the fast track investigation of the ITC with final decisions typically issuing within 12 to 18 months. Moreover, the in rem nature of the remedies available at the ITC, particularly the general exclusion order, allows domestic patent holders to obtain substantial prospective relief without filing a series of actions against numerous foreign infringers. Consequently, as technology increasingly becomes a global enterprise, the pace of patent infringement complaints filed with the ITC will only continue to surge.
