Search Results for: pooley

Survey Results: Next PTO Director

The Patent Bar has spoken – overwhelmingly choosing Todd Dickinson as the choice for the next director of the US Patent and Trademark Office. Dickinson is now leading the AIPLA after leaving his post as IP Director of GE. Previously, he was PTO director under Clinton and a partner at the Howrey firm.

In the survey, I asked "Who should be nominated as the next director of the USPTO?" Survey takers were required to select only one choice from the list given. Results from 973 responses are shown below:

Candidate

Percent Selection

Todd Dickinson

36%

Judge Rader

18%

John Whealan

11%

Other

9%

Mark Lemley

8%

Nathan Myhrvold

5%

Jim Pooley

5%

David Kappos

5%

Susan Davies

2%

Of these, I suspect that only Jim Pooley, David Kappos, and perhaps Todd Dickinson would be ready to take on the role. Judge Rader is set to become Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit in 2011, John Whealan is a law professor at GWU and Lemley is a law professor at Stanford. Both have been mentioned as likely Federal Circuit judges. Susan Davies is a White House counsel. In the "other" category, readers suggested several Patently-O contributors including David Boundy (Cantor Fitz), Ati Rai (Duke), Kevin Noonan (MBHB) and the anonymous JAOI (?). Additional suggestions included John Doll (PTO), Mike Kirk (PTO & Former AIPLA director), & Chip Lutton (Apple). Apparently as a joke, several comments also added Dennis Crouch to the list.

My prediction is that the next director did not even make this list…

Claim Construction: A Structured Framework*

Articles and Publications, Patent, , , , ,

Guest post by Professor Peter S. Menell (UC-Berkeley School of Law); Matthew D. Powers (Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP); and Steven C. Carlson (Fish & Richardson PC) 

The construction of patent claims plays a critical role in nearly every patent case. It is central to evaluation of infringement and validity, and can affect or determine the outcome of other significant issues such as unenforceability, enablement, and remedies. Yet jurists and scholars have long lamented the challenges of construing patent claim terms. The Federal Circuit's en banc decision in Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2005), stands as the most authoritative decision on claim construction doctrine. But while putting to rest various controversies, many core tensions in claim construction persist. Moreover, the decision itself does not provide a step-by-step approach to construing claims. This commentary provides a structured road map.

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