“Configured To” Can Configure You Right Out of a Patent
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 should care about—In re Blue…
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 should care about—In re Blue…
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 Circuit decided Thaler v. Vidal and…
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 patent assignment did not cover…
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 Act is no exception. What…
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, however, this rule created a…
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 to find infringement even when…
Picture source: https://boredapeyachtclub.com/ When Trademark Law Meets Web3 and Cartoon Apes If you’ve ever wondered whether the law treats an NFT like a Beanie Baby, a baseball card, or just…
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…
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…
China's Two Patent Model Types There are two types of patent protection in China: invention and utility model patents. Invention patents are similar to the US utility patents. Whereas, utility…
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…
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…
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 a generic drug label may…
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 ML itself improves, the invention…
The rule book and the black box The Use of the Inter Partes Review in Infringement Accusations You’re facing an infringement suit. A common defensive tactic is to challenge 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 vacated a district court judgment…
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 composition of matter claims as…
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 against weaker claims. That happened…
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 they work together” of an…
We have recently added another video to our FishFAQ video series on patents. This one covers a brief history and development of patents. You can find the entire FishFAQ video playlist…
We have uploaded a new FishFAQ™ video to YouTube. This video covers how various related patent applications can make up what is called a 'patent family'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmH0jhpBwP8&t=8s
We have a new FishFAQ™ video explaining the term "patent pending", when it can be used, and some considerations to keep in mind when using the term.You can find all…
Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/07/17/2024-15377/2024-guidance-update-on-patent-subject-matter-eligibility-including-on-artificial-intelligenceThe US Patent Office continues to issue guidance on subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. This latest July guidance addresses AI-assisted inventions, and adds very little to…
The recent case, Zimmer Biomet Holding v Insall, resulted in a judgment requiring the licensee to continue paying royalties after patent expiration. The holding conflicts with Supreme Court precedent, but…
Federal Circuit Decision on Amazon APEX (May 2024) In May 2024, the Federal Circuit issued a decision concerning a patentee’s use of Amazon’s patent enforcement process, called APEX.Briefly, Amazon has…
Overview of Cellect v. Vidal The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering Cellect v. Vidal, a case with potential impact on many patents.Cellect is the owner of 4 patents being…