District Courts Selected for Patent Pilot Program
- Fourteen federal district courts have been selected to participate in a 10-year pilot project designed to enhance expertise in patent cases. To be eligible to participate, courts had to be among the 15 district courts in which the largest number of patent and plant variety protections cases were filed in 2010. Some of the selected courts are the; Eastern District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of California, and Southern District of California. Among the courts selected, the Eastern District of Texas has seen the most patent litigation in recent years. Will this patent program cause a shift in the amount of cases that the Eastern District of Texas (or any of the courts selected) receives or will they continue to receive a high number of patent cases? [Link]
Group of 6 Buys Over 6,000 Patents
- The winning bid for the Nortel patents was a staggering $4.5 billion dollars, roughly equal to $750,000 dollars per patent. The 6 companies that came together to outbid Google and others were; Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony. John Amster the CEO of RPX, a company who participated in the auction, stated that “a number of… companies clearly wanted to both own the patents themselves and keep them away from Google.” While none of the winning companies have reported exactly why they wanted the patents and what they plan to do with the patents, presumptions can be made. For example, it can be presumed that Apple and RIM wanted the patents to try to keep Google out of the mobile communications market. Also, it can be presumed that the 6 companies wanted the patents for the same reason Google wanted the patents, which was for a means to stay out of patent infringement lawsuits. [Link]
IP Podcast and Suffolk Law!
- Professor Andrew Beckerman-Rodau and Ian Menchini of Suffolk Law School produce a series of IP Law podcast. These podcast are available for free on ITunesU. The podcasts are downloaded approximately 1,000 times weekly and discuss many interesting IP topics. [Link] If anyone is interested in doing a podcast, they should contact Ian Menchini by email. (imenchin@suffolk.edu) Also, the Suffolk Law School has an IP Concentration for law students and a Patent law specialization for law students who may be interested in practicing IP law. [Link]
Patent Jobs:
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Grimes & Battersby is seeking senior IP attorneys with experience in IP litigation, prosecution and licensing. [Link]
- Edell, Shapiro & Finnan is searching for associates with backgrounds in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, to work in their Rockville, Maryland office. [Link]
- An Orange County based IP firm seeks to fill 2 positions. One is a part time litigator and the other is a full time litigator/prosecutor. [Link]
- Fenwick & West is looking for a patent litigation associate with 2-4 years of patent litigation and a Ph.D. in a life science discipline. [Link]
Upcoming Events:
- World Research Group is holding the 8th Annual Patents for Financial Services Summit on July 27-28th in New York. Guest speakers include David Cunningham, Larry Bromberg, Matthew Krigbaum, and Moshe Malina. (Patently-O readers can use Promo Code ENN794 for a $200 discount) [Link]
- The 2nd European Pharmaceutical Regulatory Law Forum will be held in Brussels, Belgium September 21-22nd. The forum will focus on recent developments affecting the pharma industry in Europe and will discuss the impact of US developments on European companies. (Patently-O readers can register with code PO 10 for a 10% discount) [Link]
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American Conference Institute’s Life Sciences Business Development & Acquisitions in Emerging Markets conference is scheduled for September 26-27 in New York, NY. (Patently-O readers can register with code PO 200 for a discount) [Link]
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IPMI is holding the IP Law & Management Institute on November 6th – 8th at the Rancho Las Palmas in Palm Springs, CA. Hailed as “One of the few programs geared to experienced in-house IP Counsel”, the Institute is a CLE-accredited program designed to provide time-starved Heads of IP with the Opportunity to meet and network with their peers, learn from the best practices and validate solutions and services. [Link]
Contact Lawrence.Higgins@patentlyo.com with leads for future Bits and Bytes.