Up until now, it has been nearly impossible for a plaintiff to recover enhanced (up to treble) damages in patent infringement cases. The current test for enhanced damages, set forth by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in 2007 in In Re Seagate Technology, LLC, 497 F.3d 1360 (2007), was so rigid that it
The Supreme Court Rules the PTAB and District Courts Can Continue to Apply Different Standards for Interpreting Patent Claims
Patent litigators and prosecutors have been waiting to hear whether the U.S. Supreme Court would require the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) to apply the same claim construction standard as the district courts. The answer is “No.”
For over 100 years, the USPTO has used the “broadest reasonable construction” standard to interpret patent
Google’s Fair Use Defense Thwarts Oracle’s Attempt to Recover $9 Billion in Copyright Case
In a high-profile case, a jury recently found that Google’s use of portions of Oracle’s Java software code was allowable under the fair use doctrine and thus did not constitute copyright infringement. Oracle sought as much as $9 billion in damages from Google for incorporating approximately 11,000 lines of Oracle’s Java software code into Google’s
Court Orders Plaintiff to Pay Defendants’ $8 Million in Attorney’s Fees in Patent Row
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s twin 2014 decisions in Highmark Inc. v. Allcare Health Management System, Inc. and Octane Fitness, LLC v. ICON Health & Fitness, Inc. attorney’s fees awards are becoming more common in patent cases. 35 U.S.C. § 285 allows attorney fees “in exceptional cases.” Before 2014, this meant a court awarded attorney’s
Supreme Court Battle Set Over Prohibition of Disparaging Trademarks
Section 2(a) of the Lanham act bars the registration of “scandalous, immoral or disparaging trademarks.” The USPTO has used this applied this provision to refuse the registration of marks such as F**K PROJECT, PORNO JESUS, ASSJACKED and NO $#!+. The USPTO also invoked this provision when it upheld an examiner’s refusal to register the mark