from Breitbart: The Netherlands has asked the UN climate change panel
to explain an inaccurate claim in a landmark 2007 report that more
than half the country was below sea level, the Dutch government said
Friday. According to the Dutch authorities, only 26 percent of the
country is below sea level, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) will be asked to account for its figures, environment
ministry spokesman Trimo Vallaart told AFP. The incident could cause
further embarrassment for the Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 5:44 pm

from PRNewswire: This patent is based upon the innovative research led
by Dr. Kazuhiro Sakurada, former Head of Global Drug Discovery
Regenerative Medicine Bayer Schering Pharma AG. Under an agreement in
2008, the Sakurada patent estate related to iPSC technology was
assigned to iZumi Bio, now iPierian. The newly granted UK patent
covers the generation of human iPS cells from human postnatal cells
through any combination of forced expression of genes that includes
the Oct3/4, Sox2 and Klf4 genes, so long as Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 5:44 pm

Ben Bova of Naples, Florida says that Avatar is NOT a plagiarized
version of his own "The Winds of Altair," first published in 1973.
After going through a detailed analysis of the similarities, Bova
disposed of the plagiarism issue with few words: James Cameron has not
plagiarized my work. Plagiarism is when someone steals the words
you've written and uses them as his own. Ideas are a different matter.
Ideas can't be copyrighted or patented. Ideas are free. One might
ponder "business method patents." Bova Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 5:44 pm

I'm still shuddering. I was supposed to appear on Fox Business Live (a
streaming version of Fox Business) to discuss the IP aspects of
Google's dispute with China. Then this morphed into 'the IP aspects of
Secy of State Clinton's Internet Freedom speech' (which was a very
good speech even though there was little to do with IP). Then we're
live on the air and the anchor asks me about the Bank of China
lowering interest rates. As I launch into it, I'm thinking "did he
just ask me about interest rates?" To my Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 12:36 am

Law Firm reprented Plaintiff in a prior trademark litigation.
Plaintiff sues Defendant, one of Law Firm's other clients, and Law
Firm is retained to represent Defendant. Plaintiff moves to disqualify
Law Firm arguing that either (1) Law Firm concurrently represents
Plaintiff as a result of the prior litigation; or (2) this suit is
substantially related to the prior litigation and Law Firm obtained
confidential information about Plaintiff relevant to the current
litigation. Held: 1. This is not a concurrent Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 12:36 am

Trademark Nation: Who Dat Who Own Who Dat? Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 12:36 am

The oral argument of all of the pending motions in SONY BMG Music
Entertainment v. Tenenbaum has been adjourned to February 23rd, at
3:15 PM: Judge Nancy Gertner: Electronic ORDER entered GRANTING [35]
JOINT Motion to Continue Mtn Hearing....motion hearing reset from
2/16/10 to 2/23/10 at 3:15pm in ctrm #2, 3rd floor. Hearing will be
held on MOTION for New Trial or Remittitur (Civ. Act. No. 07-cv-11446,
document #26), and all pending motions. (Molloy, Maryellen) Keywords:
lawyer digital copyright law online Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 1:39 am

In SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the RIAA has filed its
opposition papers. RIAA's memorandum in opposition [Ed. note. As is
their habit, and as their friends at the Department of Justice did as
well, the RIAA's lawyers have ignored (a) all but one of the leading
cases, (b) all of the leading law review articles and other
scholarship, and (c) the actual contents of the Supreme Court's
decisions. Fortunately these are contained in the amicus curiae brief
we filed last year on behalf of the Free Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 1:39 am

In SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the Judge has scheduled
oral argument of all of the outstanding motions for February 16th, at
9:30 AM. ELECTRONIC NOTICE of Hearing on [26] MOTION for New Trial or
Remittitur (Civ. Act. No. 07-cv-11446, document #26), and all pending
motions, including, Plaintiffs' Motion for Costs and Fees Under Rule
37(a)(5) (Civ. Act. No. 03-cv-11661, document #851); Plaintiffs'
Motion to Compel Defense Counsel to Cease Unauthorized Recording
Activities, to Cease Publication Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 4:17 am

This part of the semester is always tough for me, so I can't give you
a full-scale review of Roberta Kwall's new The Soul of Creativity
(Google books) (Amazon), though I hope to do so eventually. Kwall sets
out an account of creativity as spiritual and author's rights as
fundamentally moral, recognizing the intertwining of their
personalities with their works. It's a very well-done argument though
on a lot of issues we are in sharp disagreement. A policy-oriented
chapter on creating a moral rights law for Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 7:12 am

A First Look at the 2009 Decisions of the United States Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit Feb 4, 2010 6:30PM - 8:00PM ET
Washington College of Law, American University 4801 Massachusetts Ave,
NW - Room 603 To commemorate the 25th Anniversary of its Federal
Circuit issue, the American University Law Review will host a panel of
practitioners who will discuss their impressions of the Federal
Circuit's decisions in 2009. The panelists will offer their insights
on significant cases and jurisprudential Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:05 pm

Summit Entertainment, LLC v. Beckett Media, LLC, 2010 WL 147958 (C.D.
Cal.) Summit owns copyrights and trademarks associated with Twilight
and New Moon, the movies. Beckett sold two "fanzines" (labeled
unofficial collectors' guides, and not corresponding to my idea of a
fanzine, but ok) reproducing numerous images from the films, along
with trademarks and promotional images related to the films. In
particular, Summit alleged that the fanzines used Summit's stylized
Twilight trademark on their covers; Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:05 pm

PTO Director Kappos has two interesting recent posts on his blog:
Reengineering the MPEP (Asking for suggestions on improving the MPEP
and questioning whether it should be developed as a WIKI). Thanks
Patent Team (Anecdotes from practitioners that patent examiners are
doing a better job of suggesting amendments that lead to allowance). Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 2:27 pm

A major reason for the current USPTO budget shortfall is the dropping
rate of renewal. According to the USPTO annual reports, the
"maintenance fees have traditionally been the largest category of
patent fees." Renewal rates are charged in three-stages. The
first-stage payment of $980 is due 3.5 years after issuance. The
second-stage payment of $2,480 is due 7.5 years after issuance. And,
the third-stage payment of $4,110 is due 11.5 years after issuance. In
FY2009 renewal rates dropped for each stage. Most Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 2:27 pm

The graph below shows examiner experience as grouped by technology
center as of the end of FY2009. The blue-bars represent the percent of
examiners and SPEs that have fewer than three years experience at the
PTO. The red-bars represent the percent of examiners and SPEs that
have ten or more years experience at the PTO. This is a continuation
of an earlier discussion. Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 2:27 pm

Jeff Kuester, a technology attorney with Taylor | English in Atlanta,
Georgia, has started AwakenIP, a web site devoted to intellectual
property law. As noted on the site: This website is an attempt to help
reignite broader recognition of the full value of intellectual
property. Much criticism has been levied against the usefulness of
intellectual property and its place in our new economy, but there are
those among us who continue to recognize the wisdom of maintaining
strong intellectual property Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 10:30 pm

The Administrative Council of the EPO decided, in March 2009, to make
significant changes to the Implementing Rules of the European Patent
Convention (EPC). These changes will enter into force on April 1, 2010
and will have a significant impact on the grant procedure before the
EPO. Introduction of a new time limit for filing divisional
applications Up until now, a divisional application could be filed
relating to any pending earlier European patent application at any
stage of the grant procedure of this Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:43 am

A fellow patent attorney (who wishes to remain anonymous) called my
attention to a recent decision issued by Judge Sue L. Robinson of the
Delaware District Court. Cancer Research Technology et al. v Barr
Laboratories et al., D-Del, Civ. No. 07-457-SLR, January 26, 2010.
Download CRT v Barr. I'm not a district court decision junkie: since
most patent cases revolve, at least in part, around claim
construction, and since under Cybor the Federal Circuit reviews claim
construction de novo, I tend to ignore many Posted on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 5:19 am

Ninth Circuit affirms injunction against Kira Plastinina in light of
plaintiff's KIRRA registered trademarks Clothier Pacific Sunwear of
California, Inc., owns the registered KIRRA family of trademarks.
Competing clothier Kira Plastinina Style, Ltd., owns the KIRA
PLASTININA trademark. In 2008, Pacific Sunwear sued Kira Plastinina
for trademark infringement. Last year, the Central District of
California found that Pacific Sunwear was likely to succeed on the
merits of its claim and granted a preliminary Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 6:53 pm

The Experience Hendrix, LLC v. Electric Hendrix, LLC "Hendrix
Electric" vodka case is over. Mostly. Plaintiffs now seek to collect
their judgment against defendants, including Craig Dieffenbach.
Plaintiffs recently complained that Mr. Dieffenbach was not
forthcoming during supplemental proceedings. Indeed, they moved for an
order of contempt, arguing that defendants' "evasive and incomplete
responses" to plaintiffs' discovery efforts have "frustrated" their
ability to determine if defendants have concealed Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 9:11 am

Not "identical, or nearly identical": Plaintiff's logo (left) and
defendants' logo Last year, E! Entertainment Television, Inc., sued
Entertainment One GP Limited, d/b/a E1 Entertainment, and four related
entities in the Central District of California for trademark
infringement. E! Entertainment operates television networks and owns a
number of "E!" design marks. The Entertainment One defendants
distribute third-party CDs and DVDs; operate a record label; and own
and distribute niche and direct-to-video Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:21 pm

It has already been a busy year on the speaking front, even with a
busy trial schedule as local counsel in federal court here in Marshall
and Tyler - we picked a jury in a patent case which resulted in a
defense JMOL last month and picked another jury last Monday for a
trial starting on the 17th - both Marshall cases in Judge Ward's
court. Thankfully two other February patent cases - one before Judge
Ward and one before Judge Davis - have been moved to April (with the
one previously before Judge Ward Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 7:15 am

After two defense wins earlier in the month January ended a little
brighter for patent plaintiffs, with a Texarkana jury in Judge David
Folsom's court returning a verdict of infringement in Ion v. Sercel,
5:06cv236. The jury found yes on literal and doctrine of equivalents,
no on obviousness and best mode defenses, and set damages at
$25,155,645 in lost profits damages (but none on reasonable royalty). Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 7:12 am

Today a Marshall jury in Judge Everingham's court in Function Media v.
Google, 2:07cv279, found that defendant Google's AdSense products did
not infringe the nine asserted claims of Function Media's two patents.
The jury further found that Google had shown by clear and convincing
evidence that all of the asserted claims of both patents were invalid
as both obvious and as anticipated. That's a good start to the year
for patent defendants in the Eastern District - a JMOL at the close of
the plaintiff's case Posted on Friday, January 29, 2010 at 12:50 am

This is going to get rather convoluted — even for me, even for Monday
morning — so consider yourself warned. Anybody left? (Around here,
that probably means "everybody is leftist," as my few conservative
readers tend to ignore anything I say is complicated...) These musings
are incomplete, at least as of yet; it's hard to have complete musings
when events are still evolving. In any event, the Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 10:35 am

Update: DOJ Not Satisfied With the Amended Settlement The Settlement
(in essay form)The Lawsuit (in essay form) The Department of Justice
has filed an objection to the Amended Settlement (Doc. 922, 04 Feb
2010). Before jumping into that objection, I'd like to reemphasize
something that it is not: The opinion of the Register of Copyright.
Her objections on substantive copyright grounds — not Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 12:30 am

Tangent: AmazonFail (version 3.21) The Settlement (in essay form)The
Lawsuit (in essay form) Depending on how one counts, this is either
the second or third major AmazonFail arising from egotistical — and
ultimately stupid and self-defeating — mass delistings of material by
Amazon. A pox on all their houses; although Amazon bears the most
blame for this, Macmillan is hardly blame-free. Let's get Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 10:26 am

In a Federal Register notice published and effective on December 8,
2009, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced rules for
implementing its previously-announced pilot program in which an
applicant may petition to have an application involving green
technologies advanced out of turn without meeting all of the
requirements of the existing accelerated examination program such as
examination support documents. The Green Technology Pilot Program will
run for twelve months from its effective date. The Posted on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 12:27 am

Effective October 1, 2009, the United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) is expanding and "enhancing" the original First Action
Interview Pilot Program which ended on June 28, 2009. Under the
Enhanced First Action Interview Pilot Program ending April 1, 2010,
the examiner will conduct a prior art search and provide the applicant
a pre-interview communication, which is a condensed preview of
objections or rejections proposed against the claims. Within 30 days
from the issue date of the pre-interview Posted on Monday, October 19, 2009 at 3:34 am

The Federal Trade Commission has issued revisions to its Guides
Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials, which will take
effect on December 1, 2009 under16 C.F.R. Part 255: Guides Concerning
the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising: Notice
Announcing Adoption of Revised Guides Posted on Monday, October 12, 2009 at 10:51 pm

So my blog turns seven today. On August 20, 2002, while hiding north
of San Francisco working on the Eldred appeal, I penned my first
(wildly and embarrassingly defensive) missive to Dave. Some 1753
entries later, I'm letting the blog rest. This will be the last post
in this frame. Who knows what the future will bring, but in the near
term, it won't bring more in lessig.org/blog. The reasons are many.
First, as I peer over the abyss of child number 3 (expected in a
couple weeks), I can't begin to imagine Posted on Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 3:15 am

Five-year old Felix's mom, Kierstin, sent me this image a bit ago. "I
thought you would get a laugh out of these photos where your Remix
became a crucial supporting wall for a Medieval Castle, manned by
Playmobile guards and a plastic dinosaur." Indeed. Posted on Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 3:09 am

Dave Wiley has an interesting idea he calls unmixing (in contrast to
remixing), which he demonstrates with the first bit of REMIX.
Basically, using Yahoo's BOSS, he reassociates every three words to
another text on the web. Give it a look. (I think I'd call it
re-remixing). Posted on Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 3:06 am

By Eric Goldman [Introductory note: I have repeatedly criticized the
FTC on this blog, and this post may implicitly criticize them as well.
At the same time, I want to share a couple of compliments for the FTC.
First, the FTC did a terrific job preparing for this event. For the
panel I participated on, we had two official group organizing calls,
plus I had at least 3 individual calls as well. I can't recall another
event which had more pre-event preparation efforts. Second, I remain
consistently impressed Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 7:47 pm

By Eric Goldman Copyright * An English translation of Google's
December loss in France on a Google Book Search lawsuit. * Ed Felten
reports on a survey of files available via BitTorrent. Acknowledging
some methodological limits, he estimates ~99% were likely copyright
infringing. * Elsevier B.V. v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc., 2010 WL
150167 (S.D.N.Y. Jan 14, 2010). Denying copyright statutory damages
and attorneys' fees to unregistered foreign works is constitutional
because the Berne Convention (which Posted on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 11:23 pm

By Eric Goldman Boring v. Google Inc., 2010 WL 318281 (3rd Cir. Jan.
28, 2010). You may recall the book project A Day in the Life of
America [Amazon affiliates link], which published what 200
photojournalists saw on May 2, 1986. The book provided a great
snapshot of Americana, both sensational and banal. As a dataset,
Google's Street View reminds me a lot of that book. The Google camera
cars automatically capture whatever they see, which in some cases can
lead to unintentionally amusing results. See, for Posted on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 11:23 pm

The online magazine, Insurance Journal, is reporting that Liberty
Mutual Insurance is suing nine former employees and their new
employer, Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings, alleging they have
plotted to steal professional liability insurance business from its
Liberty International Underwriters unit. The suit, filed Feb. 1 in New
York County Supreme Court, says the workers and Aspen "unlawfully
conspired (and continue to conspire) to breach duties of loyalty to
Liberty, raid Liberty's business Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 6:19 pm

ABC News is reporting that Shalin Jhaveri, 29, of Syracuse, was
charged in U.S. District Court with stealing trade secrets and
proprietary information from the New York-based company while taking
part in a management training program. He was fired Tuesday. Employed
on an immigrant worker's visa, Jhaveri had been a technical operations
associate at Bristol since November 2007. If convicted, he could be
sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The thefts
of "hundreds of the company's Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 8:37 am

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the world's top producers of
computer memory chips are embroiled in an alleged case of industrial
espionage after South Korean prosecutors indicted 18 people over
alleged technology theft. Prosecutors said Thursday those involved -
including employees of U.S. company Allied Materials and its South
Korean unit - are suspected of leaking semiconductor technology
belonging to South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. to its domestic
rival Hynix Semiconductor Inc. Samsung Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 8:37 am

The Illinois Business Law Journal is proud to share our inaugural
issue. This publication of the University of Illinois College of Law
acknowledges the work of our student body. This issue has compiled
writings from relevant areas of law related to business. We hope to
bring you a new edition of the Illinois Business Law Journal this
spring. Please click on the link below to access the Issue: The
Illinois Business Law Journal Fall 2009 Issue 1.pdf (468.23 kb) Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 4:46 am

I. Introduction Comcast's proposed takeover of NBC Universal is
expected to completely restructure the entertainment industry's
landscape. Analysts, investors, and public interest groups alike have
responded strongly to the anticipated agreement, which is expected to
be finalized imminently. The merger of the largest American cable
company with one of the largest entertainment enterprises in the world
would give the combined entity control over approximately one out of
every five viewing hours in the United Posted on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 3:29 pm

I. Introduction Some basic financial concepts and the facts
surrounding the 2008/9 economic crisis constitute the first stage of
this article. The analysis of certain characteristics and effects of
the Bailouts and of having Too Big To Fail Companies in the market is
what follows. Finally, I will go into different opinions and
strategies addressing main issues that are a challenge for the
regulation to be enacted in order to prevent these kind crises and
deal with the legacy of the bailouts. What to do with Posted on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 3:29 pm

In today's New York Times, the Ethicist takes on the question of
whether it is OK to charge employees for their "invariably ugly"
uniforms. Unfortunately, his analysis goes a bit too far and gets the
law wrong. While Counterfeit Chic won't quibble with the conclusion
that requiring workers to pay for hideous hats and horrible polyester
shorts adds insult to injury, it is nevertheless usually legal. Under
the federal regulations implementing the Fair Labor Standards Act,
employers may require employees to Posted on Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 5:24 pm

For hardcore fashion pirates, copying is just a business method --
where the law lets them get away with it. But what happens when an
otherwise creative designer finds that she's inadvertently plagiarized
a little-known label? CFDA President and designer extraordinaire Diane
von Furstenberg was "horrified" to learn this morning that her "Zaria"
jacket for spring 2009 (right) bears a strong resemblance to a spring
2008 look from the indie Canadian label Mercy (left) -- and she lost
no time in taking action. Posted on Friday, April 24, 2009 at 10:50 am

After a judge found a Florida town's ban on underwear-revealing saggy
pants unconstitutional as applied, opponents of the law vowed to
overturn the ordinance entirely on 14th Amendment grounds. Yesterday,
a judge agreed -- and Riviera Beach's residents are now free to droop
trou. (OK, go ahead and groan.) For a discussion of the earlier case
-- and its cultural subtext -- click here. Posted on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 10:47 am

On Monday, David Kappos announced President Obama's FY 2011 budget
request for the USPTO of just over $2.3 billion. According to the
USPTO announcement (available HERE), this budget request will support
a new five-year plan to achieve certain USPTO objectives, including
reducing pendency periods and the current patent application backlog,
improving patent quality, enhancing IP protection and enforcement,
global IP policy leadership, and a boost in its IT infrastructure.
Kappos, the Under Secretary of Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 9:20 am

It was announced last week that gaming company Konami and trading card
manufacturer Upper Deck have settled their dispute regarding
counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Last year Konami sued Upper Deck after
learning that Upper Deck had been manufacturing and distributing
hundreds of thousands of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards without permission by the
holder of Yu-Gi-Oh! rights, Konami. As noted within the recent
BloggingStocks article (link HERE), Konami was seeking $50 to $150
million in damages from Upper Deck. According to Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 9:20 am

The World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO") and the
International Telecommunications Union ("ITU") will jointly be hosting
an Accessibility Workshop this week with an objective to "promote
awareness on accessibility and encourage webmasters within the United
Nations system and other International Organizations to implement
accessibility in their daily work." This Workshop (details available
HERE on WIPO's website) will include discussions on accessibility from
companies such as Yahoo and Adobe, as Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 9:29 pm

Los Angeles, CA - Designer Christian Audigier's Nervous Tattoo, Inc.
is being sued by Marc Jacobs' company for trade dress and trademark
infringement over purse designs. Marc Jacobs designs apparel and
accessories, including purses, and has a pending application for its
random "Marc Jacobs" scrambled trademark. Marc Jacobs has applied the
scrambled trademark to the inside lining of the "Marc Jacobs Pretty
Nylon" tote bag. And the tote bag's "size, shape, color or color
combinations, product design, texture, Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 9:56 am

New York -- Major League Baseball Properties sued the Upper Deck
Company for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, unfair
competition, and breach of contract because Upper Deck continues to
print baseball trading cards after its license was terminated. A copy
of the complaint is available here. MLBP pulls no punches and
extensively refers to the recent Court ruling that Upper Deck
counterfeited hundreds of thousands of Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards, its
agreement to a multi-million dollar settlement and Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 10:06 am

During Super Bowl week, the NFL is usually busy cracking down on
church congregations showing the game in violation of the league's
copyrights. After not caring about the New Orleans Saints for over the
last forty years (aka, the "Ain'ts" years), the NFL thought it would
be a good public relations boost to send numerous cease and desist
letters to merchants that were selling "Who Dat?" t-shirts and
memorabilia. Who Dat? Who Dat trying to jump on Da Who Dat bandwagon?
After local merchants complained, it Posted on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 10:57 am

The magistrate judge recommended denying defendant's motion to dismiss
plaintiff's declaratory relief action for lack of subject matter
jurisdiction where plaintiff's suit was based upon an allegedly
confidential email between defendant and a third party. "There is
nothing inherently confidential about a statement accusing a third
party's product of patent infringement. [Defendant] should reasonably
have anticipated -- and perhaps even intended -- that its claim of
infringement by [plaintiff's] product Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 10:08 am

In concluding that one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated
to combine the teachings of a prior art betting system with the
teachings of a prior art banking system, the court found a suggestion
to combine where the betting system stated that its "voice response
unit can be applied to other fields" and listed potential
applications, including "credit card checking" and "deposit balance
information." The court rejected plaintiff's argument that the "urgent
time pressures" associated with "[the] Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 11:18 pm

The court denied plaintiff's motion for judgment on the pleadings as
to defendant's inequitable conduct claim based on the theory that
plaintiff buried relevant prior art among 597 other prior art
references. "Defendants have sufficiently alleged with particularity
that [plaintiff's] prosecuting attorney . . . filed [two IDSes] in
connection with the prosecution of the . . . patents that contained
approximately 598 prior art references in which [plaintiff] failed to
identify the relevant prior art Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 11:18 pm

Imagine that you want to sue someone for what they wrote, anonymously,
in a web-based online forum. To succeed, you'll first have to figure
out who they really are. How hard is that task? It's a question that
Harlan Yu, Ed Felten, and I have been kicking around for several
months. We've come to some tentative answers that surprised us, and
that may surprise you. Until recently, I thought the picture was very
grim for would-be plaintiffs, writing that it should be simple for
"even a non-technical Internet Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 9:08 pm

Jonathan Zittrain famously argued in his book "The Future of the
Internet, and How to Stop It" that we were headed for a future in
which general purpose computers would be replaced by locked-down
computing appliances. Apple's new iPad will put Zittrain's thesis to
the test. The iPad, as announced, has aspects of both an appliance and
a general purpose computer. (Zittrain would say "generative", but I'll
stick with the standard computer science term "general purpose".) Will
the appliance side kill the Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 11:31 am

The Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP) at Princeton
University seeks candidates for positions as visiting faculty members
or researchers, or postdoctoral research associates for the 2010-2011
academic year. About CITP Digital technologies and public life are
constantly reshaping each other-from net neutrality and broadband
adoption, to copyright and file sharing, to electronic voting and
beyond. Realizing digital technology's promise requires a constant
sharing of ideas, competencies and norms Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 11:31 am

The Super Bowl is much more than a football game to determine a
champion; it is a cultural phenomenon. One of the most important
elements of Super Bowl Sunday isn't the on the field action; it is the
commercials on television during the breaks in the action. For
companies that want to advertise during the game, it is quite costly
to partake in this action. A 30 second spot during Super Bowl XLIV
will cost $2.5-2.8 million. That figure only includes paying the
television network for the time. It doesn't Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 1:57 am

A couple of months ago I blogged about Branding Exclamations! Before
that I blogged about Increasingly Intense Ellipsis Branding . . . .
Now, it appears I must revisit the subject of punctuation mark
branding given Cadbury Adams' new Mega Mystery Stride brand gum,
prominently featuring a question mark logo on the packaging where the
S logo normally appears. The mystery apparently surrounds the
presently undisclosed flavor of the gum. The unknown flavor appears to
be part of Stride's claimed Ridiculously Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 1:57 am

A few weeks ago, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued its
decision in The University of South Carolina v. the University of
Southern California in South Carolina's appeal from the Trademark
Trial and Appeal Board ("TTAB"). The Federal Circuit affirmed the
TTAB's finding that consumers are likely to be confused by South
Carolina's use of this design on clothing: And Southern California's
use of this design on clothing: I've written before about the
lucrative field of collegiate sports merchandising. Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 3:34 pm

Sylvester Stewart p/k/a Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone filed
suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against his longtime manager, Jerry
Goldstein, alleging Goldstein stole $80 million in licensing and
royalty income, and filed a trademark for Sly and the Family Stone
without Stone's permission. He also alleges Goldstein never provided
him any royalty accounting for albums between 1989 and 2009 and the
manager breached his fiduciary duty. Read more from The Hollywood
Reporter Esq. blog which also includes Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 2:04 am

Hasbro is promoting the 75th anniversary edition of the Monopoly board
game. Not only does it have a new circular game board, it contains
clips of popular songs from artists such as Beyonce and Rihanna. So,
how did they do that? Hasbro had to secure permission to use the
underlying songs from the music publishers that own the song
copyrights. To be able to use the actual recording by Beyonce and
other artists, a master use license had to be secured from each record
label that owned the master recording. Use Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 2:04 am

You may have seen Taco Bell's New Year weight loss campaign, "Drive
Thru Diet." I have to admit, I have sampled the menu. Taco Bell
acquired www.drivethrudiet.com prior to the campaign launch in 2010,
but did not secure www.drivethroughdiet.com, a domain owned by a
Georgia weight loss center. Yum! Brands, the parent company of Taco
Bell, filed a UDRP Bad Faith action to acquire the Georgia weight loss
center's domain name. The arbitration panel denied Yum! Brand's
request to transfer drivethroughdiet.com Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 2:48 pm

SEB sued Montgomery Ward and others for infringing 4,995,312 by
selling a cheap deep fryer manufactured by Pentalpha. Speedy justice
meant that getting to trial took a mere seven years, whereupon a jury
found willful infringement, awarding $4.65 million in damages, which
the district court judge hence cut by $2 million. The district court
had awarded enhanced damages and attorneys' fees to SEB, but then
snatched them back in light of the 2007 CAFC Seagate ruling that
willfully gutted willfulness. Herein, a Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 9:34 am

ResQNet sued Lansa in 2001 for infringing five patents related to
terminal emulation. Lansa found art, two unpublished user manuals for
a software product called Flashpoint, that it argued anticipated one
of the asserted patents, 6,295,075. But the district court wouldn't
admit the art as public, and hence not legally prior art. Lansa tried
to argue that NewLook 1.0 anticipated '075 by being sold more than a
year prior to 075's filing date, but NewLook 1.0 "lacked an essential
limitation," so was not found Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 9:34 am

Abbott sued Beckton, Dickinson and Company and Nova Biomedical for
infringing 5,628,890, which claims a glucose sensor. A jury found '890
anticipated. Abbott appealed the trial judge's jury instruction over
the meaning of anticipation. The CAFC surveyed the boundary of
inherency, and found the nugget: "all elements must be disclosed in an
anticipatory reference in the same way as they are arranged or
combined in the claim." Abbott v. Becton, Dickinson and Company and
Nova Biomedical (CAFC 2009-1008, -1009, Posted on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 9:49 am

Nach dem europaweiten ePass (vergleiche die entsprechende EU
Verordnung) kommt nun in Deutschland auch der ePerso - oder wie er
seit neuestem genannt wird "nPerso" (neuer Personalausweis). Hier soll
ein kleiner Überblick gegeben werden, was der neue Perso alles kann.
Soviel vorab: Der ePerso hat zumindest das Potenzial
Identifikationsprozesse in der der virtuellen Welt zu revolutionieren.
Möglich macht dies die neue eID-Funktion und die Verbindung mit
eigener eSignatur. Im Dezember 2008 hat der Deutsche Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 2:06 am

EMI in Schwierigkeiten Umckaloabo I Umckaloabo II Neues Logo für die
GEZ LG Hamburg: Abmahnung als Email Die lustigste Abmahnung des Jahres
Veranstaltung: Transmediale Berlin Bundesnetzagentur verhängt
Bußgelder Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 2:06 am

Der Eisenmann/Jautz ist nunmehr in der 8. Auflage erschienen (inkl.
der Neuerungen im UWG u. UrhG), Grund genug, das einzige Skript zum
Thema Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz vorzustellen. Die Reihe "Start ins
Rechtsgebiet" von C. F. Müller ist mittlerweile ja in einem neuen
Outfit an der Start gegangen, inhaltlich hat sich optisch allerdings
nicht viel verändert. Noch immer wird durch intelligente Fettung auf
die wichtigen Dinge hingewiesen, die Gliederung bleibt stets
verständlich, was ein dickes Plus darstellt. Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 9:06 pm

On February 3, 2010, the U.S. International Trade Commission issued a
Notice of Investigation regarding institution of Certain Liquid
Crystal Display Modules and Products Containing the Same, and Methods
for Making the Same (Inv. No. 337-TA-702). The investigation is based
on a January 8, 2010 complaint filed by Sharp Corporation of Japan
alleging violation of Section 337 in the importation into the U.S. and
sale of certain liquid crystal display ("LCD") modules and products
containing the same, and methods Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 5:49 pm

Further to our February 3 post, Chief ALJ Paul J. Luckern issued a
notice assigning ALJ Theodore R. Essex as the presiding Administrative
Law Judge in Certain Liquid Crystal Display Modules and Products
Containing the Same, and Methods for Making the Same (Inv. No.
337-TA-702). Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 5:49 pm

On January 28, 2010, ALJ Robert K. Rogers, Jr. issued Order No. 35 in
Certain Bulk Welding Wire Containers and Components Thereof and
Welding Wire (Inv. No. 337-TA-686). In the Order, ALJ Rogers denied
Complainants The Lincoln Electric Company and Lincoln Global, Inc.'s
(collectively, "Lincoln") motion to compel Respondent Sidergas SpA
("Sidergas") to respond to Lincoln's Interrogatory Nos. 33-36. In its
motion, Lincoln stated that Sidergas had taken the position that it
was not obligated to respond to Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 2:25 am

Last week a family member had serious enough surgery that I took time
away from my job to be a caregiver. Surprisingly, this has connected
me more to social networks and this blog. You see, our hospital has
wi-fi in its waiting areas, so writing online is productive way to
pass time, and absorb the waiting with grace. When I wake up at night
to give medication, the online community is there and I appreciate it.
I'm finishing this in a waiting room now. Research shows that more
than three in ten U.S. Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 10:03 am

A few months ago we got the most offensive legal advertising ever
taken down. (Remember, it advertised a sex offender defense practice
using a photo of a girl showing skin and looking guilty….and an
adult hand keeping a scared child from speaking.) As the father of two
girls who have never watched television, I'm astounded by the messages
lots of family accept as normative "becuase" they are on "insert the
network name of your choice." We we on Yahoo! Kids, which provides
select games for kids age six Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 10:03 am

First off, I just wanted to thank Dave for inviting me to join in the
conversation on Ghostwriting in Social Media. Secondly, I want to make
something very clear before I stand up on my soapbox: I am a
marketer-and founder & CEO of the interactive e-marketing firm
ListEngage.com-and as a company, we do represent various clients and
organizations in the social media space by helping them market their
products and services on a daily basis. As an organization, when
invited to work with a client, although Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 10:03 am

When explaining to lay people what we do, trade secret practitioners
often use the classic examples of the formula for Coca-Cola or KFC's
secret recipe of eleven herbs and spices. Now, we can add as an
illustration the nooks and crannies of Thomas' English Muffins, as
demonstrated by a case filed by Bimbo Bakeries ("BBakeries") in the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania. BBakeries, which sells a variety of
different breads and baked goods, brought an action against Chris
Botticella, a high-level BBakeries Posted on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 4:58 am

Tomorrow - January 28, 2010, 10 A.M. PDT Our previous webinars have
covered the basics of trade secrets and trade secret litigation. The
third in our webinar series will focus on claims under the federal
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The CFAA has, over the last decade,
gained traction as a powerful weapon for companies to obtain
injunctive and monetary relief when employees steal their employers'
proprietary information. However, asserting a CFAA claim is not as
straightforward as it seems. Over the years, Posted on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 3:01 am

Can a California corporation with virtually no ties to Rhode Island
nonetheless be sued in Rhode Island federal court for misappropriation
of a Rhode Island company's trade secrets because the California
corporation lured away a Florida employee who had a confidentiality
agreement with the Rhode Island company? Yes, according to the United
States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Astro-Med, Inc. v.
Nihon Kohden America, Inc., Nos. 08-2334 and 08-2335, 2009 WL 3384786,
158 Lab. Cas. ¶60,887, and 29 IER Posted on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at 6:32 pm

No self-respecting Browns fan could root for a team that fled the city
it belongs to in the middle of the night. And no self-respecting
Browns fan could help but feel the Saints fans are among the few who
can appreciate our loyalty. Arlo Guthrie: City of New Orleans Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 11:04 am

Margaret Talbot notes that a trial can be a terrific method of
educating the public on controversial issues. In particular, she
focuses on Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case in which the
constitutionality of California's Proposition 8, overturning the
state's gay marriage law, is being challenged. Talbot has been
blogging about the trial throughout the 3 weeks it has been going on.
Her latest post points out that trials, in subjecting witnesses to
cross examination, permits scrutiny of controversial views Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 12:15 am

It takes a thousand men to invent a telegraph, or a steam engine, or a
phonograph, or a photograph, or a telephone, or any other Important
thing-and the last man gets the credit and we forget the others. He
added his little mite-that is all he did. - letter to Anne Macy.
Reprinted in Anne Sullivan Macy, The Story Behind Helen Keller (Garden
City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran, and Co., 1933), p.162. Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 12:15 am

The China Written Works Copyright Society (CWWCS) will send a letter
to Google China to discuss over the latter's compensations to Chinese
writers relating to copyright. Previously, Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG |
Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reached an agreement in the US,
which aimed to come up with a regulation for the emerging e-book
industry. However, the agreement irritated writers and publishers in
Europe, which forbade Google to print European books published within
150 years. Some believe that Posted on Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 9:35 pm

The Copyright Alliance and its grassroots network of creators today
announced circulation among creators nationwide of a letter to
President Obama and Vice President Biden, asking the Administration to
pursue policies supportive of the rights of artists. "Artists and
creators make important contributions not only to our society and
culture, but also to our economy," said Lucinda Dugger, the Alliance's
Director of Outreach. "Increasingly, creators are finding their work
misappropriated, reproduced and Posted on Monday, October 12, 2009 at 5:08 am

Plagiarism is a wide-spread problem in academia, and its personal and
societal consequences are equally diverse. Although the penalties for
plagiarism vary among different academic institutions, it is not
acceptable in any college or university. Consequences may range from a
simple warning to being expelled from the school. Personal
Consequences of plagiarism On a personal level, being caught
plagiarizing can be quite embarrassing. People usually view those who
plagiarize as being a fraud or phony, a Posted on Monday, October 12, 2009 at 5:07 am

Baidu gets out of jail free Aussie censor balks at bijou boobs Sky 3D
to launch in April Virgin Media to monitor music piracy Copyright,
companies, individuals and news: the rules of the road Neutralize UK
File-Sharing Legal Threats - Join TalkTalk 3 Strikes Coming To The
United States Via The Back Door? Settlement Rejected in 'Shocking'
RIAA File Sharing Verdict Med Student Turns to Test-Prep Piracy
YouTube and Hulu dabble in for-pay vids MPs frozen out of super-secret
copyright talks Piracy continues to Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 4:27 am

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy! Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 4:27 am

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy! Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 4:27 am

Par Philippe Signore La décision récente Therasense v. Becton, de la
Cour d'Appel pour le Circuit Fédéral, illustre l'importance pour les
déposants de bien coordonner leurs examens devant l'OEB et l'USPTO.
Dans cette affaire, le déposant d'une demande européenne avait pris
position devant l'OEB sur l'interprétation d'une phrase
(«optionally, but preferably ») figurant dans sa demande. Plus tard,
pendant l'examen d'une demande américaine (ne revendiquant d'ailleurs
pas la priorité de la demande européenne), Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 5:14 am

La liste des candidats reçus � l'examen de validation des acquis
(Art R421-1-1 CPI), session de février 2010, est disponible ici. Par
ailleurs, toutes les informations sur la formation EQF organisée par
le CEIPI du 25 au 27 mars � Saint-Ouen se trouvent sur le site du
CEIPI. Vous avez jusqu'au 15 mars pour vous inscrire. Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 5:14 am

FR 2.934.440 MOTEUR A ENERGIE COSNTANTE (sic) Le dispositif présent
permet d'obtenir un moteur a mouvement continu par l'intermédiaire
D'aimants permanent au Néodymium. L'invention présente concerne un
mouvement moteur continu,où l'énergie de base est l'énergie
Magnétique. Cette énergie n'est en aucun cas consommé. Cette
énergie stockée dans les aimants au Néodymium n'a qu'un seul
objectif, c'est celui de Produire une force. (Je tiens a préciser
dans cet abrégé qu'il est transcrit ici présent des laits Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 7:26 pm

Email is social networking glue. It is difficult to sync your
contacts. Email, social networking, mobile devices. Each has its own
set of contacts. One may or may not be able to sync with the other. I
drew this drawing to keep track of where my data is, where I want it
to be, and how to connect it all together. Every month, I perform the
following 14 tasks to sync my contacts. Export a CSV file of new
contacts from my Email Service Provider (ESP) to my contacts database.
I used to use Constant Contact for Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 7:24 am

Apple vs. Google, Bilski, Recession Ending? Greetings, Welcome to the
latest installment of my LawLawLaw newsletter. 2010 is the 10th year
of the newsletter, and for this issue, I'm going retro: plain text, no
graphics. I'm also using MailChimp for delivery. Why the name
LawLawLaw? Originally, LawLawLaw mapped nicely onto intellectual
property law's three areas: patent law, trademark law, and copyright
law. Plus I owned the lawlawlaw.com domain name, so it was an easy
choice! Over the years, LawLawLaw has Posted on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 4:43 pm

Don't sweat the small stuff. In 2009, my social networking fun was
interrupted by Big Stuff: my wife and I decided to amicably divorce.
We sold our big house in Acton, moved into two separate places, and
are spending 2010 starting over. Why do I blog about this? Three
reasons. First, to remind my readers (and myself) how precious life,
friends, and family are. Life is a house of cards. It takes very
little to disrupt what we consider to be normal. Death, disease,
injury, unemployment, recession, war, or Posted on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 1:39 pm

While some courts are willing to enforce click-wrap or browse-wrap
agreements that a consumer may have never read, a Federal judge in the
Southern District of Florida drew the line at enforcing an agreement
that a consumer never received. The case is Williams v. MetroPCS
Wireless, Inc., S.D. Fla, No. 1:09-cv-22890, Order (Jan. 5, 2010), a
proposed class action against a pre-paid wireless phone carrier. The
complaint alleged that MetroPCS marketed itself as a provider of
unlimited nationwide coverage, but Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 4:31 pm

Digital media law update: The FTC has been working on Internet privacy
policy since at least 1995. It is currently engaged in a series of
roundtables focusing on privacy and behavioral advertising. However,
the shape of any new regulations is very fuzzy. This may be because
the data is conflicting on the public's true interest in the issue, as
well as the lack of a clear Congressional mandate. At the FTC's
December 2009 privacy roundtable, panelists raised concerns that
collection and third party use of Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 5:51 am

Communications Decency Act update: A New Jersey Superior Court judge
recently evoked controversy among First Amendment and media law
experts by ordering GoDaddy, Domains by Proxy, ASP.net and Verisign to
"shut down and disable" three websites which published allegedly
defamatory posts. See Apex Technology Group, Inc. v. Doe, N.J.
Superior Ct., Law Division, Middlesex County, No. MID-L-7878-09, Order
(Dec. 23, 2009). The preliminary injunction order was issued based on
the plaintiffs' claim that it had been Posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 2:03 am

As I mentioned in my last post, I decided to more or less abandon the
IP ADR Blog and pursue a more general blog about Commercial ADR,
including arbitration and mediation, focusing on the business of
business and the substantive laws with which business people and their
lawyers must grapple, recommending litigation in some cases,
arbitration occasionally and mediation and settlement (a lot!) One of
the long-standing members of the IP ADR Blog and IPADR.COM, as well as
my good friend and Straus Institute Posted on Saturday, January 9, 2010 at 3:58 am

Whether a commercial case can be settled or not often depends upon the
existence of insurance coverage. This opinion - answering the question
"yes" for a trademark infringement action - was sent down by the
California Court of Appeal today. Caveat reader: I haven't read the
case yet and am only providing the summary provided by a local legal
rag below (I'll come back to this). Where insurance policy defined
covered "advertising injury" as "injury arising out of one or more of
the following offenses: a) oral Posted on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 1:30 am

by Michael D. Young Here we go again. A California appellate court has
judicially created another exception to mediation confidentiality --
this one for alleged attorney malpractice occurring during the
mediation but outside the presence of the mediator or opposing
parties. Cassel v. Superior Court (.pdf). Essentially, the court (in a
2-1 vote) holds that a communication with one's attorneys only -- one
that does not involve the mediator or the opposing party -- is not
part of the mediation process, does Posted on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 1:30 am

Auction Management Solutions, Inc. v. Manheim Auctions Inc., et al.,
1:05-cv-00639 (N.D. Ga. March 24, 2009) (Story, J.) Ruling on several
motions for summary judgment, the Court first held that the claims of
the patent-in-suit, which related to a software system for
facilitating auctions, were invalid based on the public use and
on-sale bars. The Court also found, in the alternative, that the
claims were invalid because the specification failed to enable the
full scope of the claims and failed to satisfy Posted on Friday, December 18, 2009 at 2:30 pm

Chemfree Corp. v. J. Walter, Inc., et al., 1:04-cv-03711 (N.D. Ga.
March 27, 2009) (Camp, J.) Plaintiff argued that the expert report
offered by the Defendant on non-enablement failed to satisfy the
minimum requirements for expert reports under Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 26(a)(2)(B), improperly sought to expand the scope of
Defendant's enablement theories, and contained experimental results
that contradicted results submitted in an earlier expert report. Judge
Camp rejected each of these arguments and Posted on Friday, December 18, 2009 at 2:30 pm

Fitel USA Corp., et al. v. Fibercore, Inc., et al., 1:02-cv-02149
(N.D. Ga. March 30, 2009) (Pannell, Jr, J.) Plaintiff moved to strike
portions of Defendant's motion for summary judgment, as well as
certain witness declarations submitted in support of Defendant's
motion. The Court granted Plaintiff's motion in-part, and ordered that
Defendant refile its summary judgment pleadings without any language
or statements of fact concerning Defendant's alleged efforts to
design-around the asserted patents and Posted on Friday, December 18, 2009 at 2:30 pm

With the clock ticking towards the start of the Vancouver Olympic
Winter 2010 Games next Friday, some athletes have already arrived in
the City and moved into the Olympic Athletes' Village. Amongst these
are members of the Australian Olympic Team, who have already found
themselves in some in hot water with the International Olympic
Committee ("IOC'). According to a recent story, team members have hung
a 50-metre flag, depicting a boxing kangaroo, on the side of one of
the housing complexes in the Olympic Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 4:19 am

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office has initiated two short
consultations (January 29 to February 28, 2010) for proposed Practice
Notices regarding section 12(1)(b) of the Trade-marks Act. Section
12(1)(b) provides that "a trademark is registrable if it is not,
whether depicted, written or sounded, either clearly descriptive or
deceptively misdescriptive in the English or French language of the
character or quality of the wares or services in association with
which it is used or proposed to be used or Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 6:34 pm

Further to an earlier post, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office
("CIPO") has announced a change in practice with respect to the
granting of extensions of time in examination. This new Practice
Notice will come into effect on March 11, 2010. Currently, responses
to examiner's reports are due within six months of the date of
issuance of the report. Under the changed practice, CIPO will grant an
applicant one extension of time up to a maximum of six months to
respond to the examiner's report, "if the Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 11:30 am

Patent blogger Gene Quinn of IPWatchdog.com was sued yesterday by
invention promotion company InventHelp. Gene wrote a post on his blog
entitled "Invent Help Sues IPWatchdog Alleging they are Not a Scam"
which has the complete story. In the post, Gene indicates that he is
looking for information about InventHelp's practices from former
Invent Help customers, as well as patent attorneys/agents. FYI, in
case you have information for him. Related posts: Advent Product
Development sued for fraud, improper and Posted on Monday, January 25, 2010 at 7:21 am

Most larger cities have a "children's museum" where kids (and grown
ups) can experience "hands on" science. Anything that teaches kids
that science is cool is worth supporting! Our local children's museum
is called the "Discovery Center of Idaho." For about ten years now, I
have provided free patent searches to the winners of the Discovery
Center's annual "Invent Idaho" science fair contest for elementary and
middle school students. It has been a blast working with young kids
that are so excited about Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 8:11 am

Read: Venture Hacks blog on Top 10 reasons why entrepreneurs hate
lawyers. Note: Eight of his reasons are about failures to communicate,
the other two are about money. Related posts: Five by Five - The
Entrepreneurs Matt Homann (one of my favorite blawgers) has been
doing... Interviews with famous entrepreneurs Have you checked out
nPost.com? They have an extensive list... Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 8:11 am

On Thursday, an agreement on the prospective deal we have been
discussing for months finally was reached: Roche formally agreed to
acquire Genentech for $95 per share at a total price of $46.8 billion.
Who came out the big winner here? Well, while Roche ended up with the
Genentech pipeline prize, it has been suggested that the real winners
are the Genentech employees and of course all of the Genentech
investors. The San Francisco Business Journal reported on the deal as
follows: On paper, Roche appears to Posted on Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 11:30 am

Gilead Sciences has agreed to buy Palo Alto-based CV Therapeutics for
$1.4 billion dollars. According to SF Gate, Gilead Sciences will pay
$20 per share for CV Therapeutics, which reported $154.5 million in
revenue in 2008. Most of that revenue comes from Ranexa, a drug from
chronic angina. Is this a good deal for Gilead Sciences? Well, SF Gate
reported that a Citi investment research analyst backed the deal as
making "strategic sense" but described the price as "very steep." The
Mercury News explained the Posted on Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 11:30 am

The House and Senate have reached a compromise to extend SBIR through
July 31, 2009, according to a report that broke late this evening by
the SBIR Insider. The SBIR Insider reports that the House will
originate the bill and that the legislation will amend PL 110-235 (the
current CR), which expires on March 20, 2009. The compromise was
announced on the same day that President Obama announced his new plan
to assist small businesses. The President's plan is intended to
unfreeze the credit markets for small Posted on Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 11:30 am

This panel discussion was the first in a series of three events,
initiated by the University of Chicago Law Review, celebrating Judge
Frank Easterbrook's 25 years on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. The
panel, which featured professors Omri Ben-Shahar, Randy Picker, Eric
Posner and Judge Easterbrook, was held on January 11, 2010. Posted on Friday, January 29, 2010 at 1:05 pm

This panel discussion was the second in a series of three events,
initiated by the University of Chicago Law Review, celebrating Judge
Frank Easterbrook's 25 years on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. The
panel, which featured professors Aziz Huq, Jonathan Masur, Geoffrey
Stone, and Judge Easterbrook, was held on January 12, 2010. Posted on Friday, January 29, 2010 at 1:05 pm

This panel discussion was the second in a series of three events,
initiated by the University of Chicago Law Review, celebrating Judge
Frank Easterbrook's 25 years on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. The
panel, which featured professors Douglas Baird, Saul Levmore, Martha
Nussbaum, David Strauss, and Judge Easterbrook, was held on January
13, 2010. Posted on Friday, January 29, 2010 at 1:05 pm

Creation of a fake profile on Facebook - the popular social networking
website - by a former school friend has resulted in an award of
£22,000 in damages to businessman Matthew Firsht and his company,
Applause Store Productions. The case illustrates how a determined
claimant can prove the source of internet posts. Background In July
2007 Mr Firsht, the claimant, discovered that somebody had set up a
Facebook profile in his name. The profile contained a mixture of true
and false private material including Posted on Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 5:54 pm

The Government hasn't exactly had the best record of late when it
comes to the way in which it handles personal data. It was in November
2007 that the Chancellor Alastair Darling revealed that two
unencrypted CD's containing the personal details of 25 million child
benefit claimants and their parents had gone missing. Only a month
later the Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly reported that the details of
3 million learner drivers were lost when the hard drive on which they
were recorded was misplaced in Iowa. In Posted on Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 5:49 pm

The Article 29 Workers Party has stated recently that Google considers
that the European law on data protection is not applicable to itself,
even though Google has servers and establishments in . It also asserts
that Google wishes to retain personal data of users beyond the 6
months period requested by the Article 29 Working Party, without any
justification. The dispute centres on records of user's search
queries. Google keeps these and uses them, it says, to improve the
quality of search results, to fight Posted on Monday, October 6, 2008 at 3:27 pm

One of the benefits of reading BPAI decisions is that occasionally I
see the Board citing specific case law supporting an argument that
makes sense to me, but which I can't find addressed in the MPEP. For
example, I cite In re Arkley for the proposition "the Examiner can't
pick and choose from unrelated embodiments in an anticipation
rejection." I couldn't find anything in the MPEP about this, but when
I saw the Board refer to it in a decision, I started using this
argument and citing the case. (See my Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 2:58 am

Takeaway: The BPAI has interpreted Federal Circuit case law to say
it's improper for the Examiner to rely on the same structure as
disclosing two separate claimed elements. In several decisions where
this issue arose, the Board used the following cites: Lantech, Inc. v.
Keip Machine Co., 32 F.3d 542 (Fed. Cir. 1994)(in infringement
context, a single conveyor held to not meet claim element requiring at
least two conveyors). In re Robertson, 169 F.3d 743 (Fed. Cir.
1999)(claim requiring three separate means Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 2:58 am

From what I've seen, it's quite common for the BPAI to issue a new
rejection under § 101. Not too surprising, since many claims now on
appeal are obviously vulnerable under Bilski. But I just read a BPAI
decision from a couple of weeks ago (Ex parte Lancefield) where the
Board raised a § 101 rejection without deciding on the prior art
rejections. Technically, they "vacated" the outstanding rejections and
remanded back to the Examiner with both the old and the new
rejections. Apparently the BPAI is taking a Posted on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 5:17 pm

Something for the Family Guy Fans Out There. PrawfsBlawg has this
assessment of a recent court decision in a copyright infringement case
brought by Arthur Metrano over a scene in the movie Stewie Griffin:
The Untold Story. Posted on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 9:29 am

All Google, All the Time. Alexander Macgillivray, Deputy General
Counsel for Products and Intellectual Property at Google, returned to
@berkmancenter today for an engaging discussion of the Google Book
Settlement. And John Palfrey has an announcement about two upcoming
events to discuss the settlement. Meanwhile, Google has gone where few
have gone before by winning a libel case in the UK (although a website
in Amsterdam wasn't that lucky). And finally, Ars Technica reports
that Barnes & Noble has Posted on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 9:09 am

I Couldn't Pass Up the Headline. The AmLaw Daily has this post today
about the on-going legal battle between Tolkien's heirs and New Line
Cinema regarding royalties from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The
headline? "Nerd Law Heaven." Posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at 9:17 am

On December 29, 2008, the United States Federal Circuit Court of
Appeals issued the extraordinary remedy of a writ of mandamus in In re
TS Tech USA Corp. et al. ("TS Tech USA") (Misc. Dkt. No. 888) to
reverse the denial of a motion to transfer a patent infringement
action from the Eastern District of Texas to the Southern District of
Ohio. The decision is significant in that the Federal Circuit's ruling
weakens several of the arguments that have previously been used by
plaintiffs to oppose motions to Posted on Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 9:48 am

Not Just for Hackers Anymore? Use of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
to Respond to Theft of Information. January 21st - San Francisco
location: Farella Braun + Martel January 22nd - Silicon Valley
location: Garden Court Hotel, Palo Alto Information and registration
at www.fbm.com/ABAIPRT A disgruntled departing employee can access
computer infrastructure and copy or erase valuable files, resulting in
devastating financial losses and significant disruption to a company's
overall operations. In some Posted on Tuesday, December 23, 2008 at 10:00 pm

With much fanfare, the Stanford Law School Intellectual Property
Litigation Clearinghouse ("IPLC") was launched on December 1. The IPLC
is a searchable online database that provides statistical information
on patent lawsuit filings and outcomes since 2000. The database also
includes copyright and trademark suits, although there is not yet
statistical information available on those types of cases, and will in
the future include trade secret filings. While still very much a work
in progress, the IPLC yields Posted on Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 9:30 pm

While on the subject of Mars and darkened conference rooms, Men at
Work have been found to infringe Larrikin's copyright in Kookaburra
Sits on the Old Gum Tree. It would seem (from newspaper reports) that
2 bars were a substantial part - shades of the old Colonel Bogey
newsreel case. The video on the Age's website has the clips of every
kid's favourite folk song and that flute riff. Richard Acland
highlights the crucial comparison in a vacuum: Even though there was
evidence that the pitch, key, rhythm, Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 12:07 am

In case you have been on Mars, or locked in a conference room writing
submissions, you have probably heard that the Federal Court has
rejected the music industry's attempt to impose liability on iiNet,
and ISP, for copyright infringement by authorising the infringing
activities of users of its network. Roadshow Films Pty Ltd v iiNet
Limited (No. 3) [2010] FCA 24 (636 para judgment) here. Since I will
find myself still locked in aforesaid conference room, I'll simply
quote (at this stage) from the 21 para Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 1:36 pm

ACIP has published its final report into the Enforcement of plant
breeder's rights in Australia. The report is here (pdf) - be warned
138pp, Exec Summary is 10pp. Some recommendations: Recommendation 1. A
new "purchase" right be added to s.11. This new right would only apply
to those taxa that are specifically declared in the regulations.
Industry sectors such as wheat breeders would apply to the PBR Office
to have particular taxa so declared. Recommendation 2. The PBR Act be
amended to clarify that Posted on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 9:35 pm

SEB S.A. v. Montgomery Ward & Co. (Fed. Cir. Feb. 5, 2010) In this
case, the district court, after holding a claim construction hearing,
granted a motion for preliminary injunction in 1999. The Federal
Circuit affirmed the preliminary injunction order without opinion.
After the defendant redesigned the accused product, the plaintiff
successfully sought to supplement the preliminary injunction to
include the redesigned product. After a jury trial, the defendant's
accused products were found to infringe Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 8:36 am

Outside the Box Innovations, LLC v. Travel Caddy, Inc. (Fed. Cir. Feb.
1, 2010) (nonprecedential) In this case, a partner for King &
Spalding had served as an expert witness in support of plaintiff's
motion for attorneys fees at trial. Defendant opposed this motion for
attorneys fees and challenged the strength of and analysis in the
expert's declaration. The district court denied the request for
attorneys fees. After the district court proceedings concluded,
defendant selected three attorneys from King Posted on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 10:23 pm

Catch Curve, Inc. v. Venali, Inc. (Fed. Cir. Jan. 22, 2010)
(nonprecedential) In the case the Federal Circuit affirmed the
district court's order granting summary judgment of noninfringement of
patents relating to the transmission and storage of facsimile messages
over switched telephone networks. The claims at issue on appeal
concerned methods for transmitting fax messages over switched
telephone networks from an originating fax machine to an "SAFF" (a
computer-based device known as a "store and forward Posted on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 3:50 pm