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Joinder Of Unrelated Infringers As Defendants In Patent Litigation Under The Jurisprudence Of The United States District Court For Eastern District Of Texas—A Critical Review, Ping-Hsun Chen
Ping-Hsun Chen
On September 16, 2011, the American patent system started a new era because of the enactment of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“AIA”). 35 U.S.C. § 299 was enacted to limit district court’s power to permit joinder of unrelated infringers as defendants in a single lawsuit. Before that, district courts apply Rule 20 of the Federal Civil Procedure. The Eastern District of Texas had permitted joinder only because the same patent was infringed. By introducing § 299, Congress intended to abrogate such approach. Later, the Federal Circuit in In re EMC limited the practice of Rule 20 and required a …
A Practitioner's Guide To Patent Challenges At The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: Chapter 4, Safet Metjahic
A Practitioner's Guide To Patent Challenges At The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: Chapter 4, Safet Metjahic
Safet Metjahic
Anyone other than the owner of a patent may file a petition to institute an IPR of the patent in the USPTO. This Chapter provides a summary of the legal framework surrounding IPR practice and, more particularly, the framework for preparing and filing an IPR at the USPTO.
Bowman V. Monsanto: A Bellwether For The Emerging Issue Of Patentable Self-Replicating Technologies And Inadvertent Infringement, Christopher M. Holman
Bowman V. Monsanto: A Bellwether For The Emerging Issue Of Patentable Self-Replicating Technologies And Inadvertent Infringement, Christopher M. Holman
Christopher M Holman
The inherent tendency of patented seeds to self-replicate has led to fears that farmers might face liability for inadvertent patent infringement. To address the perceived problem, some have proposed severely limiting the availability of effective patent protection for self-replicating technologies, for example by denying patent rights to “second generation” self-replicating products, or even by broadly declaring such technologies ineligible for patent protection. The fact is, lawsuits against inadvertently infringing farmers remain of largely hypothetical concern. However, changes in the market could soon render such lawsuits a reality. In addressing the resulting policy concerns, the courts and/or Congress have at their …
Inventorship, Double Patenting, And The America Invents Act, N. Scott Pierce
Inventorship, Double Patenting, And The America Invents Act, N. Scott Pierce
N. Scott Pierce
The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act of 2011 (AIA) defines an “inventor” as “the individual or, if a joint invention, the individuals collectively who invented or discovered the subject matter of the invention.” Prior art that consists of a “disclosure . . . made by the inventor or joint inventor” or “subject matter [that] had, before such disclosure, been publicly disclosed by the inventor or a joint inventor,” when disclosure is “made 1 year or less before the effective filing date of a claimed invention,” is excepted from the novelty requirement. However, there is nothing in the AIA or its legislative …