OVERVIEW: This case is a re-examination case with issue pertaining to § 112, ¶ 6, and when means plus function limitations should be invoked if a claim recites a function but does not elaborate a sufficient structure, material of acts within the claim itself to perform the recited function. The patent under reexamination assigned to [...]
OVERVIEW: Mirror Worlds, LLC had patents with claims directed towards storing computer files in a chronological order based on a time stamp instead of the conventional name of the computer file. By keeping track of all the documents on a computer in a chronologically ordered stream, Mirror Worlds stated that the invention enhances the quality [...]
OVERVIEW: Miracle Tuesday is a fashion company that desired to register a trademark with the word “Paris” in it. The designer of goods for Miracle Tuesday, Jean-Pierre Klifa is a French citizen who lived in Paris for twenty-two years, and currently resides in the United States. The examining trademark attorney rejected Miracle Tuesday mark on [...]
BRIEF OVERVIEW: This case is related to re-combinations of DNA sequences that do not occur in nature, where a protein is used to enable the recombination. The claimed method of the defendant used a modified version of a naturally occurring “wild-type” protein to enable the recombination. The board held that the method as claimed by [...]
BRIEF OVERVIEW: This case deals with inequitable conduct relating with filing references in information disclosure statements. The court standard of review is set out in Therasense for non-disclosure of references to the USPTO. see 649 F.3d at 1290-91. In this case, Attorneys for 1st Media failed to disclose various references that were cited in cross-referenced [...]
Companies should consider budgetary constraints are and determine where foreign filing applications may make the most economical sense for the long term. Second, companies should see where and what their market base is, as it is important to protect intellectual property rights where there invention is are sold, manufactured, and purchased in order to prevent [...]
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (referred to hereinafter as “PCT”) is an international treaty that authorizes the filing of a single patent application to be treated as being filed in multiple countries. An applicant may file a PCT application pursuant to the PCT rules, and the PCT application will act as a word-wide patent application where [...]
The United States is a member nation of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. As a note, most of developed nations are part of the Paris Convention, including Japan, China, Russia, European nations, Mexico, US, etc. As a member nation, US applicants may apply for a patent in any of the signatory [...]
The first difference between US and foreign patent laws is that the US provides a one year grace period between the time an applicant discloses his invention to the public via newsletters, blogs, youtube, etc. and the time the applicant files a patent. In foreign patent prosecution, if an applicant discloses his invention to the [...]
A United States patent is effective only in the US, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) does not have jurisdiction over making, selling and using patents in foreign countries. Therefore, separate patents must be granted in each country where an applicant desires patent protection for an invention. In this overview of foreign [...]