The recent decision in SRI International, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc. is another in a line of cases involving the federal court’s handling of the issues of willful infringement and enhanced damages, but it is actually a case about how parties handle the language in their jury instructions. » Read More
Three-dimensional (“3-D”) printing is an innovative way to make products without the expense of machinery in factories. At its core, 3-D printing uses computer code in a computer-aided design (CAD) file to instruct specially designed printers to print three-dimensional physical objects one layer at a time. » Read More
The Supreme Court of the United States recently held in the case of Minerva Surgical, Incorporated v. Hologic, Incorporated that the doctrine of assignor estoppel (a rule that prevents people who assign their patents to a company from then challenging the validity of their patent) is alive and well, but subject to certain important exceptions. » Read More
United States law offers four types of protection for intellectual property, namely patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Only two of these, patents and trade secrets, can grant you the protection of ideas. Besides this superficial similarity, patents and trade secrets are different, both in the kinds of ideas they can protect and in the responsibilities of the owner of the patent or trade secret. » Read More
If you think patents are all about protecting something “technical” or something only a scientist or engineer could appreciate, you are mistaken. Patents can protect how things look as well as how they work. If you want to protect how something works, you need a Utility Patent. » Read More
According to the U.S. patenting courts, “new recipes or formulas for cooking food which involve the addition or elimination of common ingredients, or for treating them in ways which differ from the former practice, do not amount to invention merely because … no one else ever did the particular thing upon which the applicant asserts his right to a patent.” » Read More
According to the U.S. patenting courts, “new recipes or formulas for cooking food which involve the addition or elimination of common ingredients, or for treating them in ways which differ from the former practice, do not amount to invention merely because … no one else ever did the particular thing upon which the applicant asserts his right to a patent.” » Read More
Utility patents protect ideas and inventions, design patents protect the ornamental aspects of a product, and trademarks protect the exclusive consumer association with your company that your brands, logos, or designs evoke. Despite the differences in these types of intellectual property (“IP”), lawsuits involving patents and trademarks have striking similarities and crucial differences. » Read More
