Today, the Unites States Patent & Trademark Office (“USPTO”), the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) issued a joint “Policy Statement on Remedies For Standards-Essential Patents Subject To Voluntary F/RAND Commitments.” This policy statement supplants the prior 2013 joint policy statement on remedies
Patent Alert: Federal Circuit holds subpoenas are not available in inter partes reexamination proceeding (Abbott Laboratories v. Cordis Corporation)
Today, March 20, 2013, in Abbott Labs. v. Cordis Corp., No. 2012-1244, the Federal Circuit held that a district court cannot issue subpoenas in conjunction with a pre-AIA inter partes reexamination proceeding because an inter partes reexamination proceeding does not constitute a “contested case” under 35 U.S.C. § 24 where the PTO has not
RANDomness: President Obama talks patents
- Yesterday, President Obama held an hour-long Google hangout to
take questions from the public, and the topic of patents came up. He answered a question about non-practicing entities and startups, and acknowledged that the America Invents Act “only went about halfway” to full patent reform. (via Patent Progress) - Judge James L. Robert issued
American Antitrust Institute supports USPTO’s proposal for requiring more patent ownership transparency
In a letter sent to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office late last week, the American Antitrust Institute expressed its approval of the USPTO’s plan to implements rules requiring patent holders to provide more transparency regarding ownership interests in patents and patent applications. The AAI’s letter claims that, among other considerations, these transparency provisions would have positive effect on the licensing of standard-essential patents and in helping companies deal with assertions for patent assertion entities or non-practicing entities.
Continue Reading American Antitrust Institute supports USPTO’s proposal for requiring more patent ownership transparency
RANDomness
The DOJ and USPTO released a joint policy statement on January 8 regarding remedies for infringement of FRAND-encumbered SEPs, taking the position that injunctive relief is generally inappropriate for these patents. Microsoft praised the statement, and called on the FTC to consider strengthening its consent agreement with Google.- Ars Technica reports that at
