By Lawrence Higgins
Upcoming Events:
- Judge Timothy Dyk will give a lecture on the commercial impact of complexity and confusion in patent law at the Lewis and Clark law school on March 1. [Link]
- Berkeley Center for Law and Technology is hosting an event entitled “Beyond Piracy in the New China” on March 10. [Link]
- 13th Annual Richard C. Sughrue Symposium on Intellectual Property Law and Policy will be held in Akron on March 21. Guest Speakers include Donald Chisum, Judge Paul Michel, and Marybeth Peters. [Link]
- The University of Dayton School of Law will be hosting a symposium entitled “Killing the Golden Goose: How Today’s Innovations in the Patent System are Harming Innovation Itself“. The guest speaker is Professor F. Scott Kief. [Link]
USPTO Unveils Details of Fast-Track Patent Option
- USPTO plans to offer accelerated patent examinations for an extra $4,000 fee. Under this option, applications would be processed within a year of filing. Currently it takes the USPTO roughly 2 years to initiate its first office action. [Link]
Supreme Court will hear Global-Tech Appliance v. SEB S.A.
- On February 23rd the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Global-Tech Appliances v. SEB S.A. [Link] The question presented is, whether the legal standard for the state of mind element of a claim for actively inducing infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b) is “deliberate indifference of a known risk” that an infringement may occur, or “purposeful, culpable expression and conduct” to encourage an infringement. [Link]
AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and MetroPCS has been sued by Sourceprose
- Sourceprose has filed suit in the Western District of Texas alleging that the above companies infringed on patent #’s 7,142,217 and 7,161,604. The complaint contends that the defendant’s infringed on claim 1 of both patents. The technology is a mapping technology used in smartphones.
Google ask USPTO to reexamine 4 patents
- In August 2010, Oracle sued Google for infringing seven of its Java patents. [Link]Google has asked the USPTO to reexamine 4 of the patents in suit. The patents are 5,966,702, 6,061,520, 6,125,447 & RE 38,104 – related to the Java platform. [Link] The alleged infringing technology is Google’s Android operating system for mobile phones.
Supreme Court will hear Microsoft v. i4i
- On April 18th the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the important case of Microsoft v. i4i. [Link]The issue in the case is, whether Microsoft is required to prove invalidity of i4i’s patent by clear and convincing evidence. [Link]This case could change the way patent law is currently practiced, if the standard is changed from the clear and convincing evidence standard. [Link]
Patent Jobs:
- HP is seeking an attorney with 1-10 years experience in patent prosecution. [Link]
- Infinity Pharmaceuticals is searching for a patent agent with 2-5 years experience in the pharmaceutical field to work at their Cambridge location. [Link]
- Amneal Pharmaceuticals is seeking a Director of Global Intellectual Property to work at their New Jersey location. [Link]
- Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack is seeking an entry-level patent attorney with a BSEE. [Link]