inequitable conduct

How a "Plague" of Inequitable Conduct Charges Curiously Became a "Scourge" and Why We Should Guard Against the Use of Pejorative Patent Terminology

August 20, 2010 21:27

  Infectious disease terminology is the reigning metaphor in Federal Circuit cases decrying the rampant assertion of inequitable conduct defenses in patent litigation. The Federal Circuit’s first use of the word plague in this context can be traced back to Burlington Indus., Inc. v....

PTO Files Amicus Brief in Therasense Case

August 20, 2010 14:25

By Kevin E. Noonan -- Many of the amicus curiae briefs that have been filed in the en banc rehearing of Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. have mentioned (if not bemoaned) the negative effects the Federal Circuit's inequitable conduct jurisprudence has had on the functioning of the...

American Bar Association Files Amicus Brief in Therasense Case

August 17, 2010 05:27

By Kevin E. Noonan -- The American Bar Association (ABA) has filed a brief in the Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. case, in support of neither party but arguing forcefully that the current state of the Federal Circuit's jurisprudence on inequitable conduct is in need of correction....

Time to Run Background Checks?

August 16, 2010 07:00

Two recent decisions from the Federal Circuit warn that misstatements in the background section of a patent application can constitute "misrepresentations of material fact" that can support a finding of inequitable conduct. These cases may have practitioners reviewing the...

Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. -- Briefing Schedule Update

August 09, 2010 04:48

By Donald Zuhn -- In April, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided that the appeal in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. warranted en banc consideration, and asked the parties to brief ten questions concerning the issue of inequitable conduct (see "Federal Circuit Grants...