What is prosecution history estoppel? Prosecution history estoppel is the principle that statements used in communications between a patent attorney and a patent Examiner at the USPTO can and will be used against an Applicant if a patent is litigated. Patent history estoppel can be used against an Applicant to disavow claim scope through the [...]
Non-parallel claim scope can create patent production history, as well as other trouble when the patent is litigated. In this case Cooper Notification, Inc. (Cooper) appeals a decision from US District court holding that Twitter and other defendants did not infringe claims 12-18 of U.S. Patent 7,409,428. Cooper is the owner of the ‘428 patent [...]
How do I protect my idea before obtaining funding on Kickstarter? Kickstarter or other crowd funding platforms for creative and innovative projections and inventions are great resources for start-ups. The main resource for crow funding platforms, such as Kickstarter, is to obtain initial funding for your innovations. However, Kickstarter can also be used as a [...]
Design choice rejections are rejections that an Examiner at the USPTO can make if the claimed invention merely includes “design choices” that are different from the prior art. However, even minor differences between acclaimed invention and prior art may be patentable. Patent law has held that in a proper obviousness determine, "whether the changes from [...]
Comaper Corporation (hereinafter “Comaper”) v. Antec is a case dealing with the Federal Circuit reversing the District Court’s JMOL. Comaper is the owner of U.S. Patent No. 5,955,955 that is directed towards computer cooling devices. A representative claim at issue is reproduced below: 1. A cooling device for a computer, said computer having [...]
This case is the latest case in the debate regarding if software related patents are eligible subject matter under the Federal Circuit. In this case, Accenture is the holder of U.S. patent number 7,013,284, which is directed towards systems that generate and organize insurance-related tasks. The claims in the ‘284 patent include claims with various [...]
The lesson to be learned in this case is that claim construction and invalidity based on the written description are separate issues that have their own tests, and serve different purposes. In this case, Trading Technologies owns a family of patents that are related to presenting interfaces to users associated with commodities exchanges, think stock [...]
Legalzoom or other legal companies that provide forms, templates, and other best practices documents that are a great resource for individuals and companies who desire legal protection at cheaper rates. In some circumstances, I do recommend people use Legalzoom for their legal needs, such as if they desire to have a simple will drafted, prenuptial [...]