Patent Baristas

Trade secrets often represent the most valuable assets of certain companies.  The value of trade secrets continues to grow in our information-age economy as does the mobility of the work force. Both forces are increasing pressure on trade secrets. The Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA), defines trade secret to mean information, including a formula, pattern, […]

In Ariad v. Eli Lilly & Co., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit set out a split decision on a case addressing patent validity and enforceability issues where Lilly contends that the asserted claims of US 6,410,516 are invalid for including non-statutory subject matter, for being obtained through inequitable conduct, and are unenforceable […]

The Becoming a Radiologist Technician blog has listed its 50 Best Blogs for Biotech Students list to keep biotechnologists well-informed about changes in the field. The list includes many friends we follow closely and some new (to us) blogs worth checking out. The list includes many favorites like these: 1. Biotech Blog by Yali Friedman. […]

I received information from SyncIDS on their new, on-line service that provides patent practitioners with a prior art database for filing Information Disclosure Statements with the U.S. Patent Office. When new documents or matters are added to the database, SyncIDS automatically shows all of IDSs that need to be filed, and everything needed to file […]

Earlier, the International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that the importation and sale of certain lysine feed products did not violate section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as amended, 19 U.S.C. § 1337. The Commission found that (1) the asserted claims of Ajinomoto’s U.S. Patents 5,827,698 and 6,040,160 are invalid under 35 U.S.C. § […]

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) is Chairwoman of the Senate Small Business Committee.  Sen. Landrieu has introduced The Small Business Patent Data Collection Act of 2010 after concerns about how the Senate patent reform bill will impact small businesses.  Small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employers, employing 1/2 of the U.S. labor force. The bill […]

I have blogged in the past about non-traditional trademarks. However the recent case of North Face and South Butt begs the discussion of trade dress and hence a comparison of the case in question with the precedents is unavoidable to glean whether South Butt does infringe North Face’s trade dress amongst other issues. Almost everybody […]

Here comes the Patent Reform Act of 2010 in the form of an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to S. 515 (“Amendment to S. 515”).  I know, you’ve heard all this before with the Patent Reform Act of 2009, the Patent Reform Act of 2008, the Patent Reform Act of 2007, the Patent […]