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 says that even if a…
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 you have to check the…
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 idea that winning a patent…
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 system recognized as a patent…
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 distinction became clear in Agilent Technologies…
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 Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Avadel…
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 had sued Alkem for allegedly…
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, describing a machine that opens…
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 to reward people for coming…
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 commonly used. But even a…