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U.S. District Court Declares False Marking Statute Unconstitutional

By Scott Cleere • Mar 4th, 2011 • Category: Intellectual Property Law, Newest Post

Unique Product Solutions, Ltd. v. Hy-Grade Valve, Inc. (N.D. Ohio Feb. 23, 2011)
U.S. District Court Judge Dan Polster ruled that the qui tam provision of the patent false marking statute (Title 35 U.S.C. § 292) unconstitutional under the Take Care Clause of Article II. The Court concluded, in pertinent part:

Applying the Morrison “sufficient control” analysis [...]



USPTO Releases More Information on Three-Track Examination Initiative

By Scott Cleere • Feb 8th, 2011 • Category: Intellectual Property Law, Newest Post

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office released additional details on February 2, 2011, regarding their recently proposed “Three-Track” patent examination initiative. The PTO is seeking public comments for a 30 day period beginning with the proposals forthcoming publication in the Federal Register.
In its original proposal, published in June 2010 (75 Fed. Reg. 31,763), the Patent [...]



An Emerging Patent Boom?

By Scott Cleere • May 26th, 2010 • Category: Intellectual Property Law, Newest Post

Dennis Crouch’s Patently O blog recently reported on the record increases in both the number of patent issuing and increases in the allowance rate (i.e., percentage of concluded applications that were allowed). In fact, the last three weeks have seen the highest number of issued patents in any three-week period in U.S.P.T.O. history. In [...]



Court Limits Scope of Fraud on the PTO in Trademark Cases

By Scott Cleere • Sep 1st, 2009 • Category: Intellectual Property Law, Newest Post

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled yesterday that fraud on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) requires proof of actual intent to deceive, which may not be inferred merely because a trademark applicant made a misstatement that it should have known was false. The court held that “a trademark is [...]



Supreme Court to Review Scope of Patentable Subject Matter

By Scott Cleere • Jun 2nd, 2009 • Category: Intellectual Property Law, Newest Post

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the en banc decision of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in In re Bilski (545 F.3d 943). In that decision, the Federal Circuit rejected its previous “useful, concrete and tangible result” test for patentable subject matter articulated in State Street (149 F.3d 1368). Finding [...]



Wither Now Patent Troll?

By Scott Cleere • Jan 7th, 2009 • Category: Intellectual Property Law, Newest Post

Did the Federal Circuit just tell the last patent defendant in east Texas to turn off the lights on your way out? The Eastern District of Texas is a popular venue for patent owners, especially non-practicing entities commonly maligned as “patent trolls,” filing infringement lawsuits. The Eastern District is widely perceived as being friendly [...]