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A U.S. patent is “presumed” valid. Audrey-Millemann-03_webThat means a patent owner does not need to prove the patent is valid in a suit for infringement. And, as the U.S. Supreme Court just explained in Commil United States, LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc., 2015 U.S. LEXIS 3406 (May 26, 2015), a defendant’s belief that the patent is invalid is not a defense to infringement.

Commil owned a patent that covered a method for increasing the speed of wireless networks. Commil sued Cisco for patent infringement, alleging that Cisco directly infringed the patent by making and using certain network equipment. Commil also alleged that Cisco indirectly infringed the patent by inducing infringement, that is, by selling the equipment to others and instructing them how to use the equipment, causing them to thereby infringe the patent.

At trial, the jury found that Cisco had directly infringed the patent. With respect to the claim of indirect infringement, Cisco contended that it did not have the required specific intent to induce infringement because it believed in good faith that the patent was invalid. The district court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled that Cisco’s evidence of its good faith belief was not admissible as a defense to infringement. The jury found Cisco liable to Commil and awarded Commil $63.7 million in damages.

Cisco appealed to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the district court’s ruling was erroneous. The appellate court reversed the district court, holding that a good faith belief that a patent is invalid is sufficient to negate the required specific intent to induce infringement.Continue Reading Just Because You Think It’s Invalid Doesn’t Mean You Don’t Infringe!

Let’s face it, we live in a progressive era. transparentMany things that were once taboo in the eyes of the law have become not only socially acceptable, but legal. For example, twenty years ago, if a California state police officer saw you walking down the street smoking what he knew to be marijuana, you were unlikely to walk away without at least a citation. Now, that same officer would have to think twice before jumping to a conclusion and writing you a citation for possession of marijuana, because it is now legal to possess cannabis for medically related purposes in this state. In fact, as of the date of this article, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the possession of marijuana in some form. Four states have even legalized it for recreational use.

At this point, you are likely wondering why I am yammering on about the legalization of marijuana in an intellectual property article. Not only is it unrelated, but honestly, its old news. However, the booming business that is emanating from the legalization of marijuana is not old news. That is exactly what I am here to discuss. If you have read any of my previous articles, you know that I am a strong proponent of protecting the goodwill in your brand through the federal trademark laws. This should not come as a surprise; it is more beneficial and less costly for my clients to retain my services for preventative intellectual property counseling than it is for litigation, or to lose goodwill in their brand.Continue Reading California Homegrown: Protect Your Pot!

With so many new microbreweries popping up in Sacramento, the Bay Area,transparent and the Greater San Diego area, I felt compelled to write the present piece for the benefit of the aspiring, as well as the established, microbrew entrepreneur. These individuals undoubtedly pour (excuse the pun) their hearts, souls, and hard-earned money into the development of their breweries and their attempts to formulate the perfect brew. However, from my own research and analysis it seems clear that these entrepreneurs are regularly overlooking one thing in particular—their intellectual property rights.

The thought first occurred to me when I was sitting in San Diego having an IPA with a couple of my friends. As I stared at the bottle on the table it occurred to me that despite my everyday involvement with intellectual property, I had never looked into whether some of these companies were properly safeguarding their intellectual property rights. I immediately went to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) website on my cellphone and began searching for some of my favorite breweries and their assorted brews on the database. I quickly learned that some of the companies were prudently protecting their intellectual property in their company’s name, certain brews, and certain designs/graphics. However, I also learned that some of my favorite breweries were not doing anything to protect their intellectual property. I discussed the matter with my friends and express how I could not understand why these companies would not try to protect their intellectual property. Then, it occurred to me that some of them probably never thought about it, or were simply unaware what types of protection exist under the intellectual property laws. After all, prior to my involvement in the intellectual property world, I never thought about trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, or patents. Accordingly, I decide to draft this brief, non-exhaustive discussion of trademark law’s application to the microbrewery industry and suggest that breweries consider protecting their rights as they grow as businesses.Continue Reading Brewing Up Some IP

Enablement is the requirement that a patent teach a person Audrey-Millemann-03_webskilled in the art (the field of the invention) how to make and use the invention without undue experimentation. In other words, a patent must describe the invention clearly enough so that a skilled person in the field can replicate the invention without having to perform experiments to determine how to make and use the invention. The enablement requirement is set forth in 35 U.S.C. §112, first paragraph. If a patent is not enabled, it can be invalidated.

In the fields of biology and chemistry, referred to in the patent world as the “unpredictable” arts, enablement is particularly important. Thus, biotechnology patents must clearly satisfy the enablement requirement or they are at risk of being challenged and held invalid. That is what happened in Promega Corp. v. Life Technologies Corp. (Fed. Cir. 2014) 773 F.3d 1338.

Promega sued Life Technologies for infringement of five patents. The patents covered methods and test kits for analyzing DNA samples and were used in forensic science. Promega alleged that Life Technologies manufactured and sold genetic test kits that infringed Promega’s patents.

Life Technologies moved for summary judgement of invalidity on four of the five Promega patents, arguing that the four patents were not enabled. The district court denied the motion. The court granted Promega’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the patents were infringed. The jury then awarded $52 million in damages to Promega, but the district court granted Life Technologies’ motion for judgment as a matter of law. The court then vacated its previous ruling of infringement.Continue Reading Enablement is Key – Especially in Biotech Patents

Zombies have become part of our lives.  We are fascinated with vampires, but we are obsessed with zombies.

Our obsession is best evidenced by the tremendous success of AMC’s television series “The Walking Dead,” about the zombie apocalypse.  The show first aired on Halloween night in 2010 and was watched by 5.35 million viewers.  It premiered worldwide the same week, in 120 countries.  The premier was preceded by a zombie invasion (orchestrated by AMC and Fox) on October 26, 2010 in 26 cities throughout the world, including Hong Kong, Taipei, and Los Angeles.  The show is now going strong in its fourth season.

Movies about zombies are also alive and well.  Since 1980, zombie movies have brought in almost $1 billion.  The highest grossing zombie movie was Sony’s 2009 “Zombieland,” bringing in $75 million since it opened.  “Warm Bodies,” one of several zom-rom-coms (as this genre is now called) has grossed $65 million since it opened three months ago.  Other favorites include the “Resident Evil” and “Night of the Living Dead” series, and “Shaun of the Dead.”

Thus, even though zombies have been walking (slowly) among us for hundreds (thousands?) of years, we have really just recently (as evidenced by our 33 years of TV and movies) noticed them.  Zombies have been here all along.  In fact, they are way ahead of us in the intellectual property world.

Zombies have amassed a significant number of U.S. patents for their inventions.  The biggest problem zombies face is a defining one: how to come back from being dead.  The undead have developed several inventions to solve this problem and they have obtained patents on these inventions.  (We are not sure why a zombie would want a patent, but we don’t know who to ask, so we can’t tell you.)
Continue Reading Zombies Have IP Too