Intellectual Property and Tech Law Reports

18 Inventors Picked to Join Hall of Fame

 

By NATASHA T. METZLER

February 08, 2007

Inventors of the MRI, the Ethernet, the LP record and a popular weedkiller are among 18 people picked for induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

The 2007 class of inductees, announced Thursday, join luminaries such as Thomas Edison, Velcro inventor George de Mestral and Charles Goodyear, developer of vulcanized rubber.

'Some of these inventors ... have literally changed the way we live our lives,' said Rini Paiva, spokeswoman for the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation. But, she added, 'They are not household names.'

Among the latest inductees and their inventions are:

_Paul C. Lauterbur, for the MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging.

_Robert M. Metcalfe, for high-speed networking known as Ethernet.

_the late Peter C. Goldmark, for the long-playing record.

_John E. Franz, for the herbicide Roundup.

Full story.

The Patent Office: Getting Wiki With It

By Alan Cohen
IP Law & Business
01-16-2007

In August, when the Patent and Trademark Office acknowledged that it had taken Wikipedia off its list of acceptable research sources, the surprise was not that the Web site had been banished, but that examiners had been using it at all. To its fans, Wikipedia is a remarkable collaboration: a gigantic, up-to-the-minute encyclopedia to which any user, anywhere, can contribute. To its detractors, it's the online version of the old "Saturday Night Live" game show, "Common Knowledge," where answers were determined by a nationwide survey of high school seniors. The joke was that every answer was wrong.

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Patent Lawsuit Filed Over Bluetooth Tech

By JORDAN ROBERTSON
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 3, 2007; 9:20 PM

SAN FRANCISCO -- Three major electronics makers have been accused of violating patented work from the University of Washington with their use of the Bluetooth wireless technology found in millions of computers, cell phones and headsets.

Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. and Finland's Nokia Corp. were accused of illegally incorporating unlicensed Bluetooth chip sets in a variety of products. The federal lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an injunction barring the companies from selling those products.

Full story.

Apple Faces Antitrust, New Patent Case

By Erika Morphy
www.MacNewsWorld.com
Part of the ECT News Network
01/03/07 8:19 AM PT

Tucker v. Apple Computer alleges that Apple is violating antitrust law because content purchased from iTunes can only be played on the Apple-manufactured iPod and no other device. In the PhatRat Technology v. Apple Computer case, PhatRat alleges that the Nike + iPod product offering -- which uses a sensor to connect Nike shoes to the iPod -- infringes on several of its own patents.

As 2007 begins, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)  executives might wish they could make a resolution to spend less time in the courtroom. However, like many New Year's resolutions, that is unlikely to occur.

The company has been served with 11 suits in the past six months, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Several of the suits relate to its backdating of options; others, such as Tucker v. Apple Computer and PhatRat Technology v. Apple Computer, deal with antitrust and patent issues, respectively.

Full story.

Supreme Court is skeptical of patent standards

By Christopher Rugaber

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

11/29/2006

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices expressed skepticism Tuesday about the current legal standard for granting patents and signaled a willingness to make patents harder to obtain.

The justices heard oral arguments in KSR International v. Teleflex Inc., a case that focuses on whether an invention is obvious and therefore ineligible for a patent.

Teleflex Inc. sued KSR in 2002 for infringing its patent on a gas pedal it makes for Ford Motor Co. Teleflex combined a gas pedal that can be adjusted for the height of the driver with one that controls acceleration electronically, rather than through a mechanical cable. KSR subsequently made a similar pedal for General Motors.

KSR fought back, arguing that the combination of the two features was an obvious one and as a result the patent was invalid.

Justice Anthony Kennedy seemed to agree.

"Why is (it) such a big deal" to combine the adjustable and electronic pedals? Kennedy asked. "Certainly this inventor would not be the only one to think that the two could and should be combined."

Justice Stephen Breyer added a down-to-earth note, wondering if he would be entitled to a patent for moving his electric garage-door opener from the bottom of the door, where it had been chewed on by squirrels, to the top.

The case is one of several focused on patents on the Supreme Court's docket this term, as the justices wade back into an area of law they largely have avoided since the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was created in 1982 to handle patents.

Legal experts interpret the court's interest as a sign the justices are willing to make changes to patent law. However, the justices voiced concern Tuesday over whether any changes to patent law might unleash a new wave of patent litigation.

Full story.

Manual of Patent Examining Procedure

Revised MPEP with August 2006 CFR changes and searchable index released by USPTO.

Download Part 1.zip
Download Part 2.zip
Download Apps. and Remainder .zip
Download Index.zip

Lab. Corp. of Am. Holdings v. Metabolite Labs., Inc.

PER CURIAM. The writ of certiorari is dismissed as improvidently granted.

THE CHIEF JUSTICE took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.

Download the decision.

Interim Guidelines for Examination of Patent Applications for Patent Subject Matter Eligibility

Interim Guidelines for Examination of Patent Applications for Patent Subject Matter Eligibility

The principal objective of these guidelines is to assist examiners in determining, on a case-by-case basis, whether a claimed invention falls within a judicial exception to statutory subject matter (i.e., is nothing more than an abstract idea, law of nature, or natural phenomenon), or whether it is a practical application of a judicial exception to statutory subject matter. The guidelines explain that a practical application of a 35 U.S.C. § 101 judicial exception is claimed if the claimed invention physically transforms an article or physical object to a different state or thing, or if the claimed invention otherwise produces a useful, concrete, and tangible result.

Download guidelines.