Two themes echoed throughout yesterday’s Senate Subcommittee hearing on patent reform. First is the need to improve patent quality. Second is the need to improve efficiency in patent litigation.

Given these laudable goals, last week’s Federal Circuit decision in Hoffer v. Microsoft, et al. left me scratching my head. Continue Reading Promoting Patent Lawsuit Efficiency — Is The Federal Circuit Aboard?

A Senate subcommittee held hearings today on proposed “reforms” to the patent system. IP bloggers J. Matthew Buchanan and Dennis Crouch have a lot of useful information posted for those who are interested. I just finished watching the hearings on C-SPAN earlier this evening and have a few views and thoughts of my own. Congress is free to consider and use them at no charge. Continue Reading Senate Hearings on Patent Reform

A Delaware jury has awarded $26.4 million to a competitor of Mary Kay Cosmetics in a patent case involving three skin care patents. What’s interesting about this case — aside from the $26.4 million damages award — is that it shows the extent of monetary damages that can arise from even such mundane products as cosmetics. Not every case involves cutting edge computer or pharmaceutical inventions. Second, the case was tried in just five days. My own experience is that juries often lose interest and start to get bored after 3 or 4 days. I’ve always been a proponent of fast paced, focused trials. This decision, I think, bears that out.

Well, the long-awaited decision in Eolas Technologies, Inc., et al. v. Microsoft Corp. was handed down by the Federal Circuit today. The good news for Microsoft is that the case is remanded for further consideration of its invalidity and inequitable conduct defenses. The half-billion dollar jury award against MS thus goes away, for now. The bad news is that the Federal Circuit upheld the lower court’s claim construction and ruled MS waived certain issues on appeal. If they can’t make the invalidity and/or inequitable conduct defenses stick, they may wind up right back where they started.

I haven’t reviewed the decision fully, but it looks to be a bit of a draw. The parties would be wise to discuss settlement. More later.

Dennis Crouch reports that the Federal Circuit has just affirmed a decision in favor of Reebok in a patent infringement lawsuit brought against it by a fellow named Kalman Gyory. Nothing terribly unusual about this disposition on the merits. What is curious is the Court’s denial Reebok’s request for fees. Continue Reading Here’s a strange one.

Not exactly IP related, but I’m happy to see that at least some common sense still exists in this country. As you may have heard, a lawyer in Ney York got upset a while back when a couple of old-timers started telling lawyer jokes outside a Long Island courthouse. So upset he had the pair ARRESTED! Fortunately, the grand jury refused to indict. (Should have put McCoy on the case.) Lawyer jokes have never bothered me. In fact, I take a kind of perverse pride in the fact that people spend time and energy making them up. And of course, what makes the jokes funny is that they contain an element of truth. Without a sense of humor, law is a far too grim way to make a living. It’s good to remember that from time to time and not take any of this stuff too seriously.

An interesting case from the Federal Circuit today. What’s unusual is that the Federal Circuit actually upheld a finding of design patent infringement. What’s more unusual is that the court upheld a monetary award in favor of the design patent owner. While I haven’t checked this rigorously, (and I’m sure someone will let me know if I’m wrong) it’s the first time in my recent memory they have done so. Let’s hope it signals a trend.

The case is instructive for several reasons. Continue Reading Federal Circuit Upholds Design Patent Infringement Award