Featured Articles

WIPO Releases 2008 Worldwide Patent Report

Peter Zura
August 04, 2008 14:36

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has released "The World Patent Report: A Statistical Review," which is an annual publication, and the 2008 edition is the third edition in the series. The reports are part of a continuing effort at WIPO to "improve statistical information on...

Recent Articles

New Patent Reform Bill Introduced In Senate (Seriously!)

Peter Zura
September 25, 2008 14:43

"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood"-- Revelation 6:12As the Horsemen of the Apocalypse plod through the financial markets, Congress, suffices to say, has has a rough...

Study Over Impacts of Erroneous Litigation Vs. Settling Published

Peter Zura
September 24, 2008 18:58

Last month, the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies issued a press release over a study that suggested that a majority of plaintiffs making the wrong decision to go to trial ended up with a verdict that was less money than the settlement offer. You can read previous coverage by the 271 Blog on this...

Happy Anti-Software Patent Day

Peter Zura
September 24, 2008 14:03

A global coalition of more than 80 software companies, associations and developers has declared the 24th of September to be the "World Day Against Software Patents".According to Benjamin Henrion, initiator of the StopSoftwarePatents coalition effort,The aim behind StopSoftwarePatents is to gather a...

CAFC: Improper Revival of Abandoned Application Is No Defense For Infringement

Peter Zura
September 23, 2008 13:59

Aritocrat Technologies Australia PTY Lmtd. v. International Game Tech., September 22, 2008 (08-1016)Aristocrat accused IGT of patent infringment, where the patents-in-suit were revived in the USPTO after being abandoned for paying the national filing fee one day late. During litigation, IGT argued...

First-To-File in the U.S., Small Entity Inventors, and Grace Periods

Peter Zura
September 22, 2008 17:43

University of Virginia law professor Margo A. Bagley has published a draft paper titled "The Need for Speed (and Grace): Issues in a First-Inventor-to-File World" that looks at various issues and concerns over a first-to-file regime (FITF) proposed recently in the Patent Reform Act. A refreshing...

Wednesday Shorts: Myhrvold Stalks, EPO Strikes, Lehman Sinks

Peter Zura
September 17, 2008 13:59

Nathan Myhrvold and Intellectual Ventures Set for Big Patent Play: over the last few years, Intellectual Ventures (IV) has amassed a whopping 20,000-plus patents and patent applications related to everything from lasers to computer chips. IV now ranks among the world's largest patent-holders -- and...

Most Litigious NPE's of All Time

Peter Zura
September 16, 2008 14:59

Joff Wild over at the IAM Blog recently chatted with Dan McCurdy, chairman of PatentFreedom and CEO of Allied Security Trust, who is issuing a list of the most litigious non-practicing entities (aka "patent trolls") for the next issue of IAM Magazine.Who are the most trigger-happy NPE patentees?...

USPTO Issues Dual Memos on 112 Rejections

Peter Zura
September 15, 2008 13:16

Earlier in the year, the CAFC issued its opinion in Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. v. M-I LLC, 514 F.3d 1244 (Fed. Cir. 2008), where the court stated "[w]e note that the patent drafter is in tlle best position to resolve the ambiguity in the patent claims, and it is highly desirable that patent...

EPO Publishes Helpful Presentations From September Program

Peter Zura
September 15, 2008 01:42

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Patent Office recently held a conference on Sept. 3-4 in Vienna, titled "Patent Statistics for Decision Makers" that addressed issues such as patent valuation, patent strategies, business dynamics, and technology...