While a U.S. patent provides the patent owner with a monopoly to prevent others from “making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States,” there are significant limits to the extraterritorial application of U.S. Patent law. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, just found that damages for one form of patent
New ITC Rules for Patent Infringement Cases: Adding Fuel to the Ultimate Rocket Docket
The United States International Trade Commission (“ITC”) is a Federal agency that deals with matters involving trade. Among its many responsibilities, the ITC investigates a variety of issues related to trade including investigating and adjudicating cases involving imported products that allegedly infringe intellectual property rights. These infringement investigations, called Section 337 investigations, may include allegations
USPTO Proposes Change in Claim Construction Standard for PTAB Proceedings Under the AIA
Currently, the standard for claim construction is different in AIA reviews before the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (“USPTO”) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB) than in proceedings in federal district courts and the International Trade Commission (“ITC”). The USPTO construes claims to have their broadest reasonable interpretation (“BRI”) while district courts and the
Surviving Alice Challenges to Patent Claims
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit just highlighted another approach plaintiffs can use to overcome early challenges to the validity of patent claims under 35 U.S.C. §101. What is that approach? It is a classic one: show there is a genuine issue of fact. That approach saved a subset of claims from summary
USPTO Finalizes Rule for Privileged Communications in Trials Before the PTAB
The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“AIA”) provided for trials before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) in inter partes reviews, post-grant reviews, the transitional program for covered business method patents, and derivation proceedings. While patent agents are registered to practice before the USPTO, they are