On Friday July 9, 2010, NTP Inc. filed patent infringement suits against six major smartphone companies.  NTP is suing Apple, Google, HTC, LG Electronics, Microsoft, and Motorola over eight NTP Inc. patents which relate to wireless e-mail delivery.  NTP is a patent holding company or also known as a “non-practicing entity.”  A non-practicing entity does [...]

Filed under: Alive Patents, In the Courts, Patent by brandond
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On June 28, 2010, the Supreme Court of the United States released a long-awaited opinion regarding the patentability of business method patents.  The Supreme Court upheld a decision which found a process for hedging commodities was non-patentable subject matter.  In 1997, Bernard Bilski and Rand Warsaw filed a patent application for a procedure for hedging [...]

Filed under: In the Courts, In the USPTO, Patent, Uncategorized by brandond
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On Friday, May 14, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit announced that it would grant an ‘en banc’ hearing of the TiVo v. Echostar case.  An ‘en banc’ hearing is a decision made by all the judges of a court, where typically only a panel of three judges hear an [...]

Filed under: Alive Patents, Events, In the Courts, Patent by brandond
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Recently, U.S. District Court Judge Garrett Brown rejected the argument made by Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. that the patent covering the main ingredient in Merck & Co.’s asthma and allergy treatment drug Singulair® was invalid or unenforceable. The patent that covers Singulair’s® main ingredient is U.S. Patent No. 5,565,473 and can be viewed at Google [...]

Filed under: Alive Patents, In the Courts, Patent by davidi
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Attorney General Lisa Madigan recently filed lawsuits against three suppliers and one marketer of the Acai berry in the Circuit Court of Cook County.  The lawsuits allege that the companies use deceptive techniques to lure customers, prematurely charge their credit cards, and make it almost impossible to cancel orders of the berry. Madigan stated “[t]he [...]

Filed under: In the Courts, Trademark by brandond
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On August 11, 2009, a United States District Court Judge in the Eastern District of Texas ordered Microsoft to stop selling Microsoft Word.  Judge Leonard Davis ordered the permanent injunction because Microsoft Word is infringing a patent to I4I or Infrastructures for Information Inc., namely,U.S. Patent No. 5,787,449, which is titled “Method and system for [...]

Filed under: In the Courts, Patent by brandond
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In the pharmaceutical industry, timing is crucial.  Typically, drugs require years of research and development before they are sold.  A patent for a drug grants the patent owner the exclusive right to research, produce, use, sell, and market the drug for the life of the patent.  When the patent expires, generic companies scramble to enter [...]

Filed under: Alive Patents, Dead Patents, Events, In Congress, In the Courts, Miscellaneous by brandond
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On May 12, 2009, the ACLU filed a lawsuit in New  York Federal Court over the constitutionality of patented breast cancer genes. The ACLU is representing a group of pathologists, researchers, non-profit organizations, and cancer patients in filing a suit against the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Myraid Genetics, and the Directors of [...]

Filed under: Alive Patents, In the Courts, Patent by brandond
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On June 1, 2009 the Supreme Court granted certiorari to Bernard L. Bilski and Rand A. Warsaw regarding the patenting of business methods discussed in the November 2008 article “In re Bilski: CAFC Clarifies “Transformation of Matter” Test for Business Method Patents.”  (http://blog.patents-tms.com/?p=253)  Bilski and Warsaw appealed the rejection of their business method application to [...]

Filed under: In the Courts, In the USPTO, Patent by brandond
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AdWords is a Google advertising product that allows advertisers to bid on words.  Then, when a searcher enters one of those words, the advertiser’s website appears on either the side or top of the returned search page.
On May 14, 2009, Google announced that it will change its policy on trademarks with AdWords.  Currently, Google prohibits [...]

Filed under: In the Courts, Trademark by davidi
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