Newsletters

11.23.21

Read Your Contract: Prior Invention Assigned to Employer When Incorporated into Employer’s Software

In Apprio, Inc. v. Zaccari, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held an agreement enforceable where if, in the course of employment, the employee incorporated a prior invention into the employer’s product, the employer would obtain the intellectual property rights in that ...


11.11.21

OFAC Speaks Again on Ransomware: Mature Cybersecurity Programs Are Important

As employees clicked away at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, ransomware attacks surged.


11.09.21

Words Matter: Specification’s Narrow Description Limited Patent Scope/Protection

In Wastow Enterprises, LLC v. TruckMovers.com, Inc., the Federal Circuit held the patent claims were limited to a universal folding boom trailer because the specification, including the title, referred to the “present invention” as including this limitation.


08.17.21

Non-Enabled Futuristic Engine Could Not Invalidate Claimed Turbine Engine

  In Raytheon Technologies Corporation v. General Electric Company, the Federal Circuit held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board incorrectly invalidated a Raytheon turbine engine patent as obvious based on a three-decade-old paper that attempted to prophetically describe an earlier ...


08.03.21

Final Rules of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Patent Attorneys at U.S. Patent Office

The Patent Office has amended the rules regarding representation under 37 CFR part 11, effective June 25, 2021.


07.22.21

FTC Finalizes Made in USA Labeling Rule

The Federal Trade Commission has finalized the Made in USA Labeling Rule, which codifies its long-standing enforcement policy requiring that marketers making unqualified Made in USA claims on labels be able to prove that their products are “all or virtually all” made in the United ...


07.20.21

Functional Claims Have a Higher Bar for Enablement; Broad Genus of Antibodies Fails Requirement

In Amgen Inc. v. Sanofi, the Federal Circuit held that the use of broad functional claim language raises the bar for enablement.


07.20.21

An Update on Discovery in U.S. Litigation of Information Subject to International Privacy Laws

This month, Colorado became the third U.S. state to enact a comprehensive cross-industry privacy law.


07.06.21

User Identification Module Held Means-Plus-Function Element, Lacked Structure/Algorithm and Invalid

In Rain Computing, Inc. v. Samsung Elecs. Am., Inc., the Federal Circuit held that the claimed language “user identification module” was a means-plus-function element with no corresponding structure disclosed in the specification and was therefore invalid for being indefinite.


07.01.21

NCAA Adopts Interim Policy Allowing Student Athletes to Monetize NIL

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has adopted an Interim Policy that, starting July 1, allows student athletes across the country to receive compensation from licensing their name, image and likeness rights to promote or endorse commercial products and services while remaining eligible ...