Archive for November, 2006
Indian patent filings grow at 30% clip
The Indian Patent Office is in a major growth phase - 30% increase in filings year over year. Perhaps not suprisingly, “[t]he largest number of patent filings has been in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals segment, which account for around half the total filed.” Read all about it here.
Election swing impact on patent reform - A Hatchet Job?
The mid-term election brought sweeping change to the United States Congress. Indeed, so much sweeping occured that the balance of power shifted in both the House and the Senate. While patent law and reform is typically viewed as a non-politicized topic, the shift in the balance of power will have some immediate practical [...]
KSR v. Teleflex - The Supreme Court reveals its frustration with the motivation/suggestion test…and contempt for the Federal Circuit
And now we wait. Yesterday, the much-anticipated oral argument was held in KSR v. Teleflex, the Supreme Court case that questions the propriety of the Federal Circuit’s teaching-suggestion-motivation (TSM) test for obviousness. The Court could issue an opinion that amounts to the single biggest patent policy decision in decades. Or not.
And now [...]
This lame duck marches on
The lame duck Congress continues to consider patent issues, and the possibility of some legislative action in the waning days continues to loom. The bill with the greatest chance of survival as law appears to be Representative Issa’s pilot program that’s designed to encourage enhancement of expertise in patent cases among district court judges (HR 5418).
The bill [...]
In need of a little inspiration?
If you’re an inventor or innovator and you need a little inspiration to help “unstick” the inventing or innovating process, head on over to our “Five minute inspiration for inventors and innovators” on Rethink(IP). Seriously….inspiration in five minutes. Give it a try.
Boston Bar Journal on eBay - Supreme Court ends special treatment for patent injunctions
Looking for some reading material for the weekend? The November/December issue of the Boston Bar Journal includes a great article by Howard Susser and Jerry Cohen on eBay v. MercExchange and its impact on patent law. The article presents a brief review of the background of the case and a thorough analysis of [...]
A timeline of Amazon/O’Reilly patent reform efforts
Here’s an interesting resource – a timeline of the patent reform efforts of Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Tim O’Reilly (O’Reilly). The creator styles it “A web 2.0 look at Jeff and Tim’s Excellent Patent Reform Adventure…”
Thanks to Scripting News for the lead.
Ohio - the Heart of the IP Blogosphere
Politically speaking, Ohio is in shambles right now. We’re traditionally quite red, but have suddenly become fairly purple, thanks to several black marks arising out of the northwest part of the state (which I call home). Despite all the controversy, we do have some good news to report. The Buckeyes have a solid lock on [...]
A Rethinker’s response to Guy Kawasaki’s defensibility question
Guy Kawasaki recently asked us to respond to his comments about the role of patents in the defensibility of a startup. We did. And, as you’ve come to know us, we don’t give the typical patent attorney response. Our take on the defensibility question: Sometimes, you’ve got to realize that “patent [...]
They’re back! NTP sues Palm in the post-eBay world
Yesterday, NTP filed a patent infringement suit against Palm. Ho hum, another patent infringement suit, right? Wrong. This one deserves attention. Why? Well, for one, NTP is probably the most recognized of the so-called ‘patent trolls.’ Remember that NTP is the intellectual property holding company that achieved a $612 million [...]
