On appeal of a summary judgement decision entered sua sponte by the district court, the Federal Circuit rejected Plaintiff’s argument that the desire of consumer’s to purchase a replacement hood or headlamp that matched the original part and/or overall vehicle design rendered the design functional. Stating that a consumer preference for a matching design over […]
Finally, PTAB decisions are searchable in a meaningful way. Previously, a searcher had to know the docket number or Petitioners name to find a decision. The new tool allows searching for text and/or a variety of fields including decision or issue type, and further allows limiting search results to a tech center. https://developer.uspto.gov/ptab-web/#/search/decisions
I wish I would have had this case in my back pocket when I was in-house, counseling clients entering into NDA’s. It provides a great cautionary tale of what happens when you enter into an agreement with provisions that you don’t then follow. Hoover Panel Systems
US Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the Own Your Own Data act in the US Senate on March 14, 2019. The short bill provides that an individual owns any content they post on the internet, and further provides that social media companies must, among other things: allow users ready access to their data, as well […]
The linked complaint, a class action filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, alleges that AT&T sold its customers’ real time location data, intended for enhanced 911 purposes, to unauthorized third parties without the knowledge/consent of the users. https://www.eff.org/document/scott-v-att-geolocation-complaint
In William Wesley Carnes, Sr., Inc. v. Seaboard Int’l Inc., No. IPR2019-00133, Petitioner filed a Petition for inter partes review of US Pat. No. 8784542, in which each independent claim was directed to a shale-gas separator and each prior art reference was directed to an apparatus for treating drilling mud. In their obviousness analysis, PTAB […]
Or, “Things that should never have to be said” In In re Global IP Holdings, LLC, Fed. Cir., No. 2018-1426, July 5, 2019, the Federal Circuit so held/said, after the Examiner and PTAB maintained the position held to be without legal basis for over 4 years. See, USSN 14/632238, the reissue application of US Patent […]
Prior to July 1, International Preliminary Examining Authorities were required to wait to start examination until the expiration of the time limit for filing a demand by PCT Rule 54bis1. As of July 1, PCT Rule 69.1(a) establishes new timing for the start of international preliminary examination. More specifically, amended Rule 69.1(a) states that the […]
The 2019 PCT yearly review was recently released, and includes a special report summarizing 40 years of the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Some of the interesting statistics reported include: • In 1978 20 countries were members of the PCT. By the end of 2018, 152 countries were members. • It took 26 years for the total […]
This is such an entertaining read, really, truly I can add nothing. 05-29-2019-Facebook-Inc-Consumer-Privacy Transcript UPDATE September 12, 2019. In an order dated September 9, 2019 (Facebook order), Judge Chhabria dismissed some, but maintained many, claims of the class action suit. In the opinion, Judge Chhabria addresses Facebooks three main arguments and dismisses two outright, and […]