Category Archives: Patents & Technology

By: John M. Eden In Kinik v. International Trade Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit suggested in dicta that the defenses available to foreign manufacturers in infringement actions under 35 U.S.C. § 271(g) in Federal district … Continue reading →

By: Daniel P. Homiller Courts and the Justice Department’s Antitrust division have become increasingly tolerant of patent licensing practices that were previously viewed with suspicion. This trend has put pressure on the doctrine of patent misuse, which arose in the … Continue reading →

By: Megan Ristau Baca The institution of university science research has evolved over the past century, from one of open science and free information to one of competition and jealously guarded intellectual property rights. This iBrief analyzes the background factors … Continue reading →

By: Don Macbean Over the past decade, charitable contributions of intellectual property have grown rapidly. This growth has coincided with tremendous abuse as firms have sought inflated valuations of donated intellectual property in order to claim larger tax deductions. In … Continue reading →

By: Daniel P. Homiller In the Internet age, complex telecommunications systems are often deployed with little regard for international borders. In NTP, Inc. v. Research in Motion, Ltd., the Federal Circuit determined that one such system infringed several U.S. patents, … Continue reading →

By: Mark H. Webbink A Winter 2004 article by Bradford L. Smith and Susan O. Mann of Microsoft published in The University of Chicago Law Review suggests that the development and growth of the software industry in the U.S. is … Continue reading →

By: David G. Barker In December 2004, a mystery business, JGR Acquisitions Inc., purchased the patent portfolio of bankrupt Commerce One at auction. Commerce One had not previously enforced the acquired patents and many companies were using the patented technologies … Continue reading →

By: Joshua Stowell Recently, the Federal Circuit in Knorr-Bremse v. Dana overruled almost twenty years of precedent by striking down the adverse inference doctrine, which had created a negative presumption against any alleged patent infringer for failing to obtain and … Continue reading →

By: James W. Soong For the patent owner, early provision of patent notice can help maximize recoverable infringement damages during subsequent litigation. This iBrief recognizes a growing trend of infringement suits predicated on patented enterprise software technology, and analyzes application … Continue reading →

By: Andrew Wasson If even a fraction of the predictions about nanotechnology are realized, our society will be a dramatically different and better place than it is today. Yet, due to the infancy of the field, it is still unclear … Continue reading →

By: Lewis Branscomb On February 19, 2004, Dr. Lewis Branscomb gave the Meredith and Kip Frey Lecture in Intellectual Property at Duke Law School. In his speech, Dr. Branscomb discussed various models for turning basic scientific inventions into high-tech innovations … Continue reading →

By: Jennifer F. Miller A debate has arisen within the legal community over the existence and constitutionality of a so-called “complexity exception” to the Seventh Amendment. This exception would give a judge the discretion to deny a jury trial in … Continue reading →

By: Campbell Chiang The Supreme Court established a two-part test for determining when an invention is “on sale” under 35 U.S.C. §102(b) in Pfaff v. Wells Electronics, Inc. For the on-sale bar to be triggered, the invention must be “ready … Continue reading →

By: Campbell Chiang The Supreme Court established a two-part test for determining when an invention is “on sale” under 35 U.S.C. §102(b) in Pfaff v. Wells Electronics, Inc. For the on-sale bar to be triggered, the invention must be “ready … Continue reading →

By: Andrew Joseph Hollander Courts view “data structures,” the mechanism by which computers store data in meaningful relationships, differently than do computer scientists. While computer scientists recognize that data structures have aspects that are both physical (how they are stored … Continue reading →

By: Troy Petersen With the ever-increasing international flavor of business comes an important question for United States patent holders and foreign manufacturers alike: Can a company be held liable for patent infringement in the United States for selling an infringing … Continue reading →

By: Jennifer F. Miller In Pfaff v. Wells Electronics, Inc., the Supreme Court established a two-part test to determine when an invention is “on sale” for purposes of Title 35 U.S.C. §102(b). In addition to being the subject of a … Continue reading →

By: Ben Quarmby With the advent of protein engineering, the determination of a protein’s 3D structure has taken on a whole new importance. This has prompted some to call for the United States Patent and Trademark Office [USPTO] to break … Continue reading →

By: Carmen J. McCutcheon Over twenty years have passed since the enactment of The Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act (Bayh-Dole Act) and universities continue to struggle with their technology transfer infrastructures. Lost in that struggle are those who could … Continue reading →

By: Campbell Chiang Inventorship is a required component of patents issued in the United States, and the penalty for filing a patent with incorrect inventorship is harsh: possible invalidation of the entire patent. This iBrief explores the background on inventorship … Continue reading →

By: Jennifer Miller In a petition for writ of certiorari, Duke University requests that the Supreme Court reverse a Federal Circuit holding that, in its view, “seals the coffin on the experimental use exception for private universities.” This iBrief discusses … Continue reading →

By: Michael Guntersdorfer Software is a global business. Patents are increasingly the protection of choice; as a consequence, international software patent laws are of growing importance to software vendors. This article focuses on European patent law and how it differs … Continue reading →

By: Michael Koenig A recent decision by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Scheiber v. Dolby Laboratories, Inc., called into question, yet dutifully applied, the somewhat disfavored Supreme Court patent case of Brulotte v. Thys Co. For thirty-eight years, Brulotte … Continue reading →

By: Kristoffer Leftwich The statements, “The laws of nature,” “the principles of nature,” “the fundamental truths,” etc., are not patentable, have been oft repeated but seldom understandingly used. They have led to misunderstanding and much confusion, not limited to members … Continue reading →

By: Jennifer Miller The Supreme Court makes another attempt to strike a balance between protecting an inventor’s patent rights and ensuring adequate notice to the public of what constitutes patent infringement. This iBrief discusses the Supreme Court ruling in Festo … Continue reading →