Just when the Federal Circuit starts showing signs of (once again) making sense, they come up with a new decision that leaves me scratching my head. It’s no secret that the Doctrine of Equivalents is on their hit list. Unless I’m mistaken, the next patentee-friendly doctrine to go might be the ancient and honorable rule that “features of the preferred embodiment should not be read into patent claims.”
Continue Reading Group Thinking

I can’t believe it. Maybe I’m wrong (I’ll re-read the case Tuesday). But it sure seems the Court of Appeals has finally let common sense influence one of its decisions. The Court today overruled its prior holding that adverse inferences can be drawn when someone accused of patent infringement invokes his fundamental right NOT to disclose his lawyer’s advice. This is as it should be and the Court now has it right.
Continue Reading Sanity Returns to Court of Appeals

Here at the Mann Law Group, our focus is on helping smaller patent owners take on much larger opponents. I find it helpful, therefore, to keep track of what corporate counsel and management are thinking, particularly with regard to patents and related lawsuits. An article in the September 3, 2004 Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, discusses how larger corporations should react when faced with a charge of patent infringement and provides valuable insight.
Continue Reading Further Views From the Corporate Side

A recent article from the Idaho Statesman sheds interesting light on how corporations in general — and Micron Technology in particular — react to the supposed “rising tide” of lawsuits now threatening such companies.
Continue Reading The Corporate Take on IP (and other) Lawsuits

It’s not uncommon for parties in a lawsuit to think the judge is biased, unfair and singling them out for unfair treatment. Usually this happens after the judge rules against them on some procedural issue or otherwise signals he’s unimpressed with the merits of your case. Even experienced lawyers sometime question whether a particular judge has it in for them. Thus, the question often comes up: “Can’t we get ourselves a new judge?” A recent decision of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Juicy Whip, Inc. v. Orange Bang Inc., (I love these names!) sheds important light on how an appellate court is likely to respond if actually asked to assign a new judge.
Continue Reading “I don’t like this judge, can’t we get another?”

The right to a jury trial is fundamental to our system. It is what lets even individuals and small companies get justice in court. This is no less true in the patent arena than elsewhere.
Continue Reading Court reinstates jury verdict