The Northern District of Illinois has implemented a “recent opinion search page.” Searches can be done according to judge, filing date, nature of suit, etc. Thus, it is easy to find recent patent opinions. The N.D. Ill. webmaster does not know of any other district court that has implemented a similar tool. The text of the opinions are delivered in pdf format are not yet searchable. Lawyers Weekly provides links to sites providing opinions from the other district courts.
Answering Machine Inventor
Joseph J. Zimmermann Jr., who invented the telephone answering machine in 1948 and patented it a year later, has died at age 92.
Chicago Tribune has the story. About.com provides more on the history of the answering machine. The Occupational Adventure Blog provides advice about a career as an inventor.
Phillips v. AWH Corp.
Phillips v. AWH Corp. (Fed. Cir. 2004)
In a case involving modular wall panels for prisons (U.S. Patent 4,677,798), the Federal Circuit interpreted the term “baffles” to structures oriented at angles other than 90 degrees. Although the ordinary meaning of the term (“something for deflecting, checking, or otherwise regulating flow”) includes 90 degree orientations, the Court listed two reasons for abandoning the ordinary meaning. First, the only embodiment shows “baffles angled at other than 90 degrees.” Next, the Court found that baffles angled at other than 90 degrees better realize the invention’s purpose of providing impact or projectile resistance.
In dissent, Judge Dyk argued that 1) a patent describing only a single embodiment is limited to that embodiment, and 2) impact or projectile resistance was not the only objective listed in the patent and claims are not required to be capable of achieving all of the objectives of an invention.
===========================
NOTE: This case is scheduled for a rehearing en banc and will likely create dramatic changes to patent litigation procedures, just as Markman has done. Read more here.
Trademarks as Economic Indicators
Dechart LLP has released its Annual Report on Trends in Trademarks for 2003. The report finds a slight increase in trademark filing — indicating a moderate economic recovery.
The article was also covered in the New York Times (entitled “Patents as Economic Indicators”).
Although Dechart uses trademark data, others have contemplated the use of patent data as an economic indicator or a proxy for innovative activity.
Sources:
1. Crouch, D.D. and Crouch, H.L. (2003), “Environmentally Conscious Patent Histories,” Proceedings of Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing III, SPIE Proceedings 5262, 165-73.
2. Porter, M.E. and van der Linde, C. (1995), “Green and Competitive: Ending the Stalemate,” Harvard Business Review, September-October, 120-135.
3. Jaffe, A.B. and Palmer, K. (1997), “Environmental Regulation and Innovation: A Panel Data Study,” Review of Economics and Statistics, 79(4), 610-619.
4. Griliches, Z. (1990), “Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey,” Journal of Economic Literature 28, 1661-1707.
5. Kortum, Samuel (1993), “Equilibrium R&D and the Patent-R&D Ratio: U.S. Evidence,” American Economic Review, 83(2), 450-457.
Lawrence Solum’s Blog directed me to Petra Moser’s presentation of How Do Patent Laws Influence Innovation? Evidence from the Nineteenth-Century World Fairs.
Plasma display panel (PDP) patents.
Japanese firm Fujitsu has sued Samsung in a US federal court, accusing the South Korean group of infringing its plasma display panel (PDP) patents. BBC has the story.
Fujitsu apparently holds approximately 800 patents on various features of PDP technology.
No Appeal for Halliburton
U.S. Supreme Court Will Not Listen to Halliburton Appeal
By David Ivanovich, Houston Chronicle Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
The Supreme Court refused to hear Halliburton’s appeal to a $101 million infringement judgment in favor of BJ services. The allegedly infringed patent covers technology for extracting oil and gas.
See the Federal Circuit’s opinion.
Norian v. Stryker (Fed. Cir.)
In the most interesting portion of the case, the Appellate Court found that the District Court erred in allowing the jury, while determining validity, to consider factual misstatements made by the patentee during prosecution. (Jury did not rule on inequitable conduct.) The Appellate Court did not overrule the verdict on that point, however, because no objection was made at trial.
The case was reversed and remanded on other grounds.
Manual for Complex Litigation
The Federal Judicial Center has recently revised the Manual for Complex Litigation. “This edition updates the treatment of electronic discovery and other aspects of pretrial management and describes major changes affecting case management in the substantive and procedural law in mass torts, class actions, intellectual property, employment discrimination, and other types of litigation. A new chapter deals with managing scientific evidence.”
Disclaimer
This weblog is intended to provide limited information and commentary on current events in the area of patent law. This weblog is NOT LEGAL ADVICE. Please do not rely upon any information or commentary in this weblog because it may be in error or may be out of date. Please independently confirm any developments.
I encourage anyone with legal questions to consult an attorney.
The contents of this weblog are the personal views of the weblog creater and are not to be imputed to the creater’s law firm. The weblog creater does not intend to create an attorney-client relationship by providing this information to you.
Novartis Pharmaceuticals v. Eon Labs (Fed. Cir.)
Novartis Pharmaceuticals v. Eon Labs
Novartis patented a cyclosporin hydrosol (aqueous solution) and sued Eon for infringement. (U.S. Patent 5,389,382) Eon’s cyclosporin, however, is suspended in ethanol rather than water. The infringement argument was that a Eon’s drug formed a hydrosol when ingested by a patient.
The court held that “hydrosol” as used in the patent is limited to an “aqueous medicinal preparations prepared outside the body,” and thus, that Eon’s formulation did not infrnge.
See Eon’s press release.