Patent Baristas

This is the third of a series of articles on IP and Antitrust issues. This article deals with some specific types of licensing restrictions. This is not an exhaustive list of practices that attract antitrust scrutiny. The licensing restrictions dealt with here are tying arrangements, tie-outs, royalty arrangements, exclusive dealings, cross-licensing, pooling and grant backs.

This blog [...]

This is the second of a series of articles on IP and Antitrust issues.  This article deals with the need for licensing of intellectual property, licensing in the past and present and the antitrust concerns associated with it.

Possession of intellectual property is just one step in a chain of production and manufacturing. Once the patent [...]

This is the first of a series of articles on IP and Antitrust issues. This article introduces the topic and the governing laws and guidelines. The next few articles will deal with intellectual property licensing practices, patent pooling and cross-licensing, antitrust/anti-competitive issues in the field of licensing, effects of restrictions in intellectual property licenses and [...]

The one good feature of the “America Invents Act,” an end to fee diversion, is now removed.  Nothing remaining in the bill justifies the disruption and transition costs. Please ask your representative to vote no, and ask your clients to do the same. The bill is up for final vote on Wednesday [...]

Translation has traditionally been one of the more over-looked aspects of the patent and intellectual property business, but with the IP landscape continuing to grow and expand across international borders, it has become a vital part of the overall “IP workflow.” Whether it’s translating a patent application for filing in another country, patent examiners at [...]

Browsing the aisles of Costco, taking in the consumerism the Christmas has come to denote, my mind was drawn to its jewelry and watch section. As I was feasting my eyes upon baubles and trinkets I have no use for, I recalled the not so recent Ninth Circuit Costco v. Omega which in turn reminded [...]

The still fresh ruling by CAFC on Goeddel v. Sugano reversed the decision by BPAI which held that Sugano is entitled to its filing date of its initial Japanese application and BPAI consequently awarded Sugano priority on counts of two interferences. The decision highlights the BPAI’s misinterpretation of PHOSITA’s function and we are encouraged to [...]

This morning, the Supreme Court issued its long awaited opinion in Bilski v. Kappos, a case which dealt with whether new processes were patentable only if they were performed with a specific machine, or resulted in a physical transformation of some article. In the run up to the decision, many commentators had predicted that the Court [...]