The Federal Circuit once again held, in Rain Computing, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc., et. al., 2020-1646 (Fed. Cir. March 2, 2021), that a patent owner cannot rely on a general-purpose computer as a structure for performing the function recited in the claim language when the claim language is construed to be means-plus-function. Most patent litigators are well familiar...
Continue ReadingThere were a total of approximately 3.1 million unexpired patents in the United States in 2020. With so many patents covering inventions of all kinds, well-meaning companies may find that they have accidentally and allegedly infringed upon someone’s patent rights. As with other types of intellectual property, patent infringement is serious business. You may have wondered what to do...
Continue ReadingYour brand name or logo is an important part of your business. Whether you sell goods or provide services, your brand is how customers identify you. Registering a trademark allows you to protect the association your customers have with the goods and services of your business. However, if you’ve spent any time researching how to file a trademark, you’ve...
Continue ReadingAs an inventor, owning a patent is one of the most rewarding things you can achieve. Successfully obtaining a patent on your invention requires significant dedication, time, and money. Unfortunately, however, individuals and entities do not always respect the protections provided by a patent. In fact, there were more than 225,000 patent cases filed in District Court in 2017...
Continue ReadingAn intellectual property lawyer is a lawyer who helps people register, protect, and make money from their unique ideas. The United States prides itself on ingenuity and innovation. Accordingly, multiple protections are available to those who invent and create. Despite these protections, the IP Commission reports that pirated software, counterfeit goods, and trade secret theft cost the U.S. economy...
Continue ReadingIntellectual property lawyers focus on helping you protect and profit from your ideas and creations. Intellectual property, or IP, plays a huge role in the United States economy. According to a report by the U.S. Commerce Department in 2016, IP-intensive industries account for 38.2%, or $6 trillion, of the United States? gross domestic product (GDP) and support at least...
Continue ReadingIn WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp, decided today, the U.S. Supreme Court held that 35 U.S.C. Sections 271(f)(2) and 284 allow a patent owner to recover damages in the form of a reasonable royalty and lost foreign profits for patent infringement. In this case, the defendant manufactured the components in the United States, but then shipped those components...
Continue ReadingDomestic companies incorporated in the state of Texas (and other multi-judicial district states) accused of patent infringement have an additional tool in their venue arsenal. The Federal Circuit ruled last week in In re BigCommerce that a domestic company incorporated in a state having multiple judicial districts (such as Texas) resides for purposes of the patent venue statute only...
Continue ReadingSubsequent to the Supreme Court’s ruling in TC Heartland, some foreign corporations were advancing the contention that the venue for patent infringement lawsuits naming them as a defendant was not proper in any court in the United States. Today, the Federal Circuit addressed that contention in In re HTC Corporation, ruling that foreign corporations are subject to suit in...
Continue ReadingThe Federal Circuit’s opinion in Disc Disease Solutions Inc. v. VGH Solutions, Inc. et. al., handed down on May 1, 2018, may very well change the specificity that patent owners and patent attorneys provide in filing a lawsuit to enforce their intellectual property rights. It suggests that, at least for simple technology, there is not much difference, if any,...
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