The proliferation of distributed computing devices, networked computing, and machine learning is rapidly changing the way we live, work, and play. Recently, the convergence of these trends is being called the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Industry 4.0, or simply I4. These blanket terms encompass a wide range of developments, including the increasing refinement, deployment, and integration [...]
In a non-precedential opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has overturned a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal board that upheld the rejection of one of Facebook’s patent applications. The application (U.S. Pat. App. No. 13/715,636) claims a method for displaying a set of images after reshuffling or resizing the [...]
Apple and Samsung have been locked in a legal battle over various design patents related to the iPhone since 2011. After nearly six years and a trip all the way to the Supreme Court and back, Apple and Samsung came to a settlement agreement this week and the case was dismissed. Apple had previously been [...]
Often multiple types of intellectual property cover a product. For example, trademarks, trade secrets, and patents may all cover different aspects of the same product. The overlapping coverage can result in multiple different claims of infringement resulting for one sale of a covered product. The question then becomes, “can the rights owner recover for each [...]
Since being unanimously confirmed by the Senate as the most recent director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Andrei Iancu has called for increased reliability and predictability in the patent system. Notably, Director Iancu has spoken often since taking office about changing the conversation about patents. Speaking before the American Bar Association Intellectual Property [...]
Apple and Samsung have been locked in a legal battle over various design patents related to the iPhone since 2011. After nearly six years and a trip all the way to the Supreme Court and back, in May of this year the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California may finally decide how [...]
The U.S. Patent Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) recently reversed an Examiner’s obviousness rejections in part because the Examiner improperly ignored a claim limitation. A common examination practice in the U.S. is for Examiners to treat one or more claim limitations as merely recitations of “intended use” that do not impact the patentability [...]
While the federal government helps protect and even enforce patents, sometimes government procurement can be the cause of patent infringement. Science Applications International Corp. (“SAIC”) has found itself in that situation, and SAIC is currently fighting at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (“Court of Federal Claims”) to keep federal procurement entities from infringing [...]
In Travel Sentry, Inc. v. David A. Tropp (Travel Sentry III), a panel of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) broadened the scope of potential liability for joint patent infringement by expanding the definition of direct infringement. Direct infringement requires that all steps of a patented method to be performed by [...]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) issued an opinion this week that stands as a reminder to companies that locking up employee assignments of patents as early as possible is of true importance. In Advanced Video Technologies LLC v. HTC Corp (Appeal No. 2016-2309 decided January 11, 2018) the [...]
