Archive for September, 2006
Friday food for thought: What the government giveth, the government can taketh away
Late last week, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit made it clear that, under current law and judicial interpretation, a patent holder has no Fifth Amendment remedy against the United States government for unauthorized use of a patented invention. By denying a petition for rehearing en banc in Zoltek v. United States [.pdf], [...]
A proposed agenda for the ‘new patent reform’
Last week, I wrote about the changing scope of ‘patent reform.’ Following the release of the Draft 2007-2012 Strategic Plan by the Patent and Trademark Office, it is clear that ‘patent reform’ is beginning to take on an entirely new, much broader scope than it has in the past. The Draft Plan hints at a [...]
Friday food for thought: The changing scope of ‘patent reform’
Remember when ‘patent reform’ was about moving to a first-inventor-to-file system? About adopting a post-grant review procedure and making it easier for third parties to submit art for examiner consideration? Heck, remember when it was about changing the injunctive relief standard?
Well, those days are gone. Looong gone.
With the release of the Patent and Trademark Office’s [...]
How to read blogs 101
New to blogs? Wondering how best to read them? Here’s the 101 lesson of the day….don’t forget the comments. If you’re just reading the latest and greatest article, you’re missing a lot. Comments on articles often turn into fascinating discussions. To wit, read the comments on last week’s article [...]
Need to fill a legal job opening? Let the Rethink(IP) family help you out….
Several readers of Promote the Progress have asked about Rethink(IP), the group blog I maintain with Steve Nipper and Doug Sorocco. I’ve had several “where have you guys gone?” discussions over the summer, and it seems that no one is buying my standard answer of “we’ve got several projects coming together that have all [...]
Friday food for thought: What would the CCPA and Chief Judge Markey say about ‘continuation abuse’ and PTO efforts to cure it?
I think he’d tell the Office to focus on its core business…patentability.
Everyone knows that the Patent and Trademark Office is readying its proposed continuation rule for final. It appears that, soon, we’ll be living in a world that is very different than the one we know today.
At first glance, the rule seems like an aggressive attempt by [...]
Sure it was filed in federal court, but I’m thinking this Notice of Appeal will, um, appeal to patent prosecution folks, too
Above the Law has posted a hilarious Notice of Appeal filed by a pro se plaintiff in a federal district court. The funniest part is not the hand-drawn line numbers or sketched heading. Nope. As with all great legal documents, the artful use of language is the best part. This plaintiff [...]
Activist Professor Kimberly Moore unanimously confirmed as next Federal Circuit Judge
Yesterday, the Senate unanimously confirmed the appointment of Professor Kimberly Moore as a judge for the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Crouch has a post with several interesting links surrounding Moore and the confirmation vote.
Here are a few things to think about when considering the significance of Professor Moore’s appointment and confirmation:
* Professor Moore is not [...]
Patent rhymes…turning 35 USC into beautiful poetry…
From Yehuda Berlinger in Israel comes the “U.S. Patent Code - in verse.”
I don’t know why, but the only thought I could muster up after reading that came out as a rhyme:
I’m not a poet,
not even a student of the rhyming game,
but I’m smart enough to know it…
Yehuda’s verse certainly isn’t lame.
And if that’s [...]
Friday food for thought: Has software infiltrated the Patent and Trademark Office?
Now let’s see who’s really paying attention….did you catch this one? This morning, the Patent and Trademark Office released the list of new appointees to the Patent Public Advisory Committee. Among the new advisors is Mr. David Westergard, a patent attorney with Micron Technology in Boise, ID.
If the name sounds familiar, it should…Mr. [...]
