Cher from her video “If I could turn back time” and some parody lyrics A New Federal Circuit Decision Every Inventor Should Understand If you’re
The 20-year Patent Term The standard patent term is set at 20 years from the earliest effective filing date. But that’s really just the baseline.
Why Inventors Should Care About the Blue Buffalo Decision If you’re an inventor thinking about filing a patent, here’s a recent Federal Circuit decision you
IPR Denials Are Now Standard After the recently appointed USPTO Director John Squires took the helm, IPR denials have been the standard. This of course
The Federal Circuit Clarifies: Only Humans Can Be Inventors For a while there, it looked like we had some rules. Back in 2022, the Federal
An Illustration from Life of Issue Preclusion The kids are fighting over something and bring it to me to resolve. I don’t really want to
Wow, the Federal Circuit seriously narrowed the scope of some patent assignments. Continuation-in-Part Applications Not Covered in Assignments The Federal Circuit held that a 2007
The ol’ “Switcheroo”: One Argument in Discovery, the Opposite in Trial Every so often, the Federal Circuit hands down a decision that’s less about patents
When politicians get involved in patent law, things usually get messy — and the latest spat between the Trump Administration and Harvard over the Bayh-Dole
Previously, courts required trade secret plaintiffs to identify their trade secrets with particularity. That requirement applied before defendants had to respond to discovery. In practice,
What Is the Doctrine of Equivalents in U.S. Patent Law? The Doctrine of Equivalents is a legal principle in U.S. patent law that allows a court
In a twist that sounds like science fiction, researchers in Xi’an, China have taken artificial intelligence designed to find tumors in brain scans and taught
The Doctrine of Equivalents: When Literal Infringement Isn’t Required Patent law has its own version of “close enough,” called the Doctrine of Equivalents (DOE). It
A Patent System Idea So Bad You Check the Calendar Every so often, Washington cooks up an idea so far outside good patent policy that
Nearly two decades ago, the Supreme Court’s decision in eBay v. MercExchange quietly reshaped the patent landscape — and not necessarily for the better. The ruling rejected the
The DABUS Litigation Is a Personhood Fight Disguised as a Patent Fight Dr. Stephen Thaler has lost another case trying to have his DABUS AI
Enablement Depends on Context In patent law, “enablement” is critical. However, the required detail varies depending on your goal—getting a patent or invalidating one. This
Federal Circuit Draws New Limits on Injunctions and Orange Book Listings In a decision likely to affect the pharmaceutical industry, the Federal Circuit ruled in
This is a very weird case interpreting “consisting of”. The Federal Circuit recently affirmed a ruling of non-infringement in Azurity Pharmaceuticals v. Alkem Laboratories. Azurity
What Is Means-Plus-Function Claiming? Means-plus-function claiming is a way of writing a patent that describes what something does, not how it does it. For example,
For centuries, governments have tried to encourage innovation by offering inventors something valuable in return: ownership. The earliest forms of state-recognized intellectual property—like patents—were meant
A Patent’s Value Means Little Without the Means to Defend It Valuing a patent isn’t simple. Methods like the cost, market, and income approaches are
Generic Drug Labels and Inducement to Patent Infringement In the ever-evolving world of pharmaceutical patent law, a recent Federal Circuit decision offers guidance on when
In a closely watched decision, the Federal Circuit delivered a clear message. Simply applying machine learning to a new domain is not enough. Unless the
Federal Circuit Limits Cross-Family Prosecution Disclaimer In Maquet Cardiovascular LLC v. Abiomed Inc., the Federal Circuit clarified prosecution history disclaimer across related patents. The court
PTAB § 101 Affirmance Rates Continue to Climb For inventors and patent practitioners, securing a patent has always been challenging. Overcoming a § 101 rejection
The Federal Circuit has issued a significant ruling in US Synthetic Corp. v. Int’l Trade Comm’n. It reversed the ITC’s controversial decision that had invalidated
Overview of BearBox LLC v. Lancium LLC Plaintiffs often prefer federal courts because cases typically move faster than in state courts. But speed can work
Understanding System and Method Claims System claims describe the overall arrangement and interaction of different components within a system. They protect the “what” and “how
We have recently added another video to our FishFAQ video series on patents. This one covers a basic overview of the U.S. patent process. You