IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Patent Law

Does the First Amendment Protect False and Misleading Speech?

Gene Quinn — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:06:45 +0000

Yes, I had the audacity to say what is objectively correct. There is no absolute right under the First Amendment to engage in false or misleading speech. Despite the fact that this statement is legally 100% correct you would have thought I was engaging in treasonous behavior. What made it all the more comical was that it was the anarchists who seemed most upset, both in comments on IPWatchdog and in a variety of Twitter and blog articles that sought to paint me as some kind of crazy. You...

PTO Proposes Rules of Practice for Patent Trials before Board

U.S.P.T.O. — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:46:45 +0000

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has proposed a consolidated set of rules related to trial practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The proposed rules implement the provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act relating to inter partes review, post-grant review, the transitional program for covered business method patents, and derivation proceedings.

USPTO Seeks Public Input on Proposed Fees

U.S.P.T.O. — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:34:04 +0000

Under the America Invents Act (AIA), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), for the first time in its history, was given the authority to work with IP stakeholders to set fees through the regulatory process. The agency took a first step towards that end this week when it published proposed fees for all of the patent services it provides.

Patents for Humanity Announced at White House Event

Gene Quinn — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:45:03 +0000

I had the honor of being invited to the White House today for the Innovation for Global Development Event, which was held in support of the President’s commitment to using harness the power of innovation to solve long-standing global development challenges. As a part of this event, David Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, launched a pilot program dubbed Patents for Humanity, which is a voluntary prize...

Will Congress Break the Internet?

Bob Zeidman — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:30:17 +0000

We must find reasonable ways to stop infringement of intellectual property on the Internet. Such a solution must be fair to the victim of the infringement. It must uphold the principles of the Constitution of the United States. And it must not break the Internet. SOPA and PIPA may not be perfect implementations of such protection, but they meet all of these requirements. There may be better strategies that can be reached through measured and thoughtful debate, but not through excessive...

Crowdsourcing Patent Research: $2 Million in Reward Money

Gene Quinn — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:55:16 +0000

Article One Partners (AOP), the world’s largest patent research community, earlier today announced that the company has achieved a significant milestone — more than $2 million dollars in financial incentives to its global research community. This milestone comes 11 months to the day from when Article One announced that they had reached the $1 million award milestone.

Patent Mass Aggregators: The Giants Among Us

Tom Ewing & Robin Feldman — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:43:49 +0000

The types of returns promised to investors and the types of benefits offered to participants are also quite different from garden-variety non-practicing entities, as are some of the tactics used in organizing the entities and in asserting the patents. Finally, the scale itself is simply mind-boggling. Mass aggregators operate on a scale and at a level of sophistication and complexity that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. They have taken the prototype strategies pioneered by a prior...

Exclusive Interview Part 3: USPTO Deputy Director Terry Rea

Gene Quinn — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:18:02 +0000

We begin by discussing first action allowances and whether they are frowned upon, then discuss the examination process and weave our way to Track 1 and whether you really must use Track 1 for patents likely to be litigated because you get a much more condensed, streamlined prosecution history. Over the past 10 days I have also interviewed Peggy Focarino (Commissioner for Patents), Deborah Cohn (Commissioner for Trademarks) and Peter Pappas (Chief of Staff). These interviews are being...

Stopping Online Piracy in the Age of Entitlement

Gene Quinn — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:30:16 +0000

As for the particulars of SOPA, perhaps there are some who are against the legislation for valid, thoughtful reasons and would like to see something better. That, however, seems to be the substantial minority. Those who are against SOPA seem to want to protect online piracy as if they are entitled to access the creative works of others for free. In economic terms those who steal intellectual property are freeloaders. These freeloaders are just like the many non-productive members of society...

Trademark Skullduggery: Lawsuit Challenges Publication Service

Gene Quinn — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:23:07 +0000

Leason Ellis LLP, an intellectual property law firm located in White Plains, New York, recently filed a complaint against USA Trademark Enterprises, Inc. of Sarasota, Florida. The multi-count Complaint alleges that USA Trademark Enterprises has engaged in false advertising and unfair competition by marketing a catalog of trademark registrations, which offers no value because the published information is freely available in the online records of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. David...