Supreme Court Hears Apple v. Samsung Apple squares off with Samsung today before the United States Supreme Court, addressing a long-standing dispute relating to the design of the early version iPhone, first brought to light in a 2012 trial. This is the first design patent dispute heard by the Court in over a century. At…
US Patent & Trademark Office Launches Pilot Program for Early Review of Cancer Immunotherapy Patent Applications The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced on June 30, 2016, that it is implementing a 12-month pilot program to provide for earlier review of patent applications relating to cancer immunotherapy. According to the Federal Register notice (link…
The proliferation of lawsuits brought by Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs), also referred to as “patent trolls,” has led to backlash in boardrooms and state houses throughout the country. Now, Massachusetts is making its own efforts to fight NPEs by introducing Senate Bill S.178, An Act Protecting Massachusetts Businesses from Abusive Patent Infringement Claims. As the Mass Tech…
Recent changes in federal law will require employers to change their confidentiality agreements with employees. On May 11, 2016, the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) was signed into law after being passed by both houses of Congress in April. Kevin Freking, Obama Signs Bill to Deter Theft of Trade Secrets, ABC News, (May 11, 2016,…
With a top comedy on network television comes added scrutiny – just ask the producers of the wildly popular show, The Big Bang Theory. Recently, the producers, along with others, discovered that their now-famous Soft Kitty lullaby has become the subject of a copyright infringement claim in US District Court in the Southern District of…
The United States National Park Service (NPS) is currently enmired in a dispute with one of its former contractors over contracts relating to Yosemite National Park. In early 2016, NPS selected a new company to manage several hotels and sites in Yosemite National Park. The outgoing contractor, Delaware North, asked NPS and the new contractor…
Grant Submissions and Novelty: A Catch-22 for Startups The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) of 2011 brought sweeping changes to the landscape of Patent Law. Among other things, the AIA expanded the scope of potential prior art by explicitly treating all information which is not only “described in a printed publication” but also “otherwise available…
To what extent do country-of-origin trademarks confuse consumers? The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) recently addressed this issue relating to jeans with a brand name that includes the term “USA.” * An American company named JBLU, Inc. (JBLU) sells jeans under the name C’est Toi Jeans USA. While the term,…
On March 10, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a Decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), holding that claims directed to a “Blackjack variation” card game are not patent eligible. This case breaks the USPTO’s tradition of granting patents for card games. The court in this recent case (In…
On March 21, 2016, the Supreme Court agreed to review a decision from the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (Federal Circuit) regarding a design patent held by Apple on the iPhone. The order granting the review is limited to only one question: “Where a design patent is applied to only a component of a…