The patent laws will be changing the day that President Obama signs into law the Leahy Smith America Invents Act, which finally cleared both houses of Congress last night. Some say that these are the biggest changes to U.S. patent law since the modern Patent Act was put into place some 60 years ago. The … Continue reading The immediate effects of the America Invents Act
Senate Considering America Invents Act
UDPATE: Amendments defeated. Bill passed 89-9. It's off to the President, who has said that he will sign it. However, this is hardly the end. New regulations will start pouring out of the PTO in the coming months. The Senate is in its second day of considerations of the House version of the Smith-Leahy America Invents … Continue reading Senate Considering America Invents Act
Google Paranoia?
As I mentioned in a prior post, Google's Eric Schmitt seemed to have a level-headed reaction to the price paid by Apple, Microsoft, Ericsson, EMC and others for Nortel's patent portfolio. He said, in effect, there's no cause for alarm. It appears to be a numbers game. With higher prices, there will be more people … Continue reading Google Paranoia?
The Northern District of Texas wants your patent cases
Trying to decide where to file a patent case? The Northern District of Texas wants you to file there, if, of course, venue is proper. But why would you? Well, mostly because you can be assured that, if it is filed in Dallas after September 1, 2011, it will be assigned to one of three district … Continue reading The Northern District of Texas wants your patent cases
Are patent values soaring?
A consortium of companies, consisting of Apple, RIM, Microsoft, Ericsson, Sony and EMC, agreed last week to pay $4.5 billion for about 6000 patents owned by Nortel, or roughly $750,000 per patent. I think it is fair to say that this was a lot more than most thought the portfolio would fetch. Nortel, which is … Continue reading Are patent values soaring?
Reconciling the Senate and House patent reform bills
While I was on vacation a week ago, the House passed its version of the America Invents Act, H.R. 1249. There were several last minute amendments made to the bill, including a compromise on funding provisions for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. For those interested, I have made a comparison between the Senate and House … Continue reading Reconciling the Senate and House patent reform bills
Opposition to patent reform bill in the House continues to organize
To update my post earlier today, ... Professor Crouch reports today in this post — First-To-File and the Constitutional Argument - Patent Law Blog (Patently-O) — that two competing groups of legal scholars are in the process of rounding up professors to sign letters to Congress arguing each side of the question of whether the proposed … Continue reading Opposition to patent reform bill in the House continues to organize
The increasingly uncertain status of patent reform in Congress
Several sources are have reported that H.R. 1249, which is the House version of the patent reform bill (S. 23) passed 93-3 by the Senate in March, will be coming up for a floor vote as early as this week. Although no one should rationally expect smooth sailing for any bill, passage of the bill … Continue reading The increasingly uncertain status of patent reform in Congress
Number of patents per 100,000 population – The Globe and Mail
Number of patents per 100,000 population - The Globe and Mail. The linked article reports an interesting statistic calculated in Canada by the Toronto Board of Trade and Conference Board of Canada. It ranks cities by number of U.S. patents issued in 2009 by per 100,000 in population. The statistic is meant to measure, indirectly, … Continue reading Number of patents per 100,000 population – The Globe and Mail
Comments on New Track 1 Examination
See my post earlier today for the details of how to go about requesting prioritized examination of patent applications at the US Patent and Trademark Office. Several things to note: First, the PTO is not promising to issue a prioritized application faster, but its expecting completing examination in 12 months. The PTO will only be placing … Continue reading Comments on New Track 1 Examination
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