Patent Law Weblog
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- Judicial Conduct and Disability Committee Has Its Say, Denies Judge Newman’s Latest Request for Review
- PTAB Issues Judgment on Priority in CRISPR Interference
- Parties File Supplemental Priority Statements in CRISPR Interference
- Why the Alice Test is Stupid, Part V: The Goalposts Keep Moving
- Meanwhile, Back at the PTAB with CRISPR – Update
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Category: Patent Legislation
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By Donald Zuhn — At last month's Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Intellectual Property Counsels' Committee (IPCC) conference, Q. Todd Dickinson, Executive Director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), and E. Anthony Figg of Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, P.C. provided an update on the status of patent reform legislation in one of…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — The Senate Judiciary Committee, particularly the triumvirate of Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-PA), and Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), are pretty proud of themselves these days, having rammed their "compromise" patent "reform" bill through the Committee and headed to the Senate floor. It can be expected…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — The "tyranny of the majority" has been the bane (or at least the peril) of representational democracy at least since Alexis de Tocqueville coined the term in 1835; more recently, Lani Guinier lost the nomination to be President Clinton's Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights for her scholarly writings…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — Senator Leahy (D-VT) (at right), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has circulated several amendments to be proposed to reflect the "compromise" he hopes to have reached with Senators Specter (R-PA) and Feinstein (D-CA) over S. 515, his "patent reform" bill. While there are several minor amendments among them,…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — Today, the Senate Judiciary Executive Committee continued its Executive Business Meeting from last week and announced that "significant" progress had been made in reaching a compromise on S. 515 supported by Committee Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), ranking member Senator Arlen Spector (R-PA), and Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) (a…
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By Christopher P. Singer — The Senate Judiciary Committee held an Executive Business Meeting today to discuss, among other topics, the pending Patent Reform Bill, S. 515. The recorded meeting can be viewed here. [Note: the portion relating to S. 515 begins just after the 11 minute mark]. Most of the discussion relating to…
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By Christopher P. Singer — The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) today announced that its Board of Directors has adopted two resolutions, one against any legislation concerning willful patent infringement, and the other against any significant U.S. Patent and Trademark Office fee increases for fiscal year 2009. In its daily e-mail letter, the IPO…
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By Donald Zuhn — The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Tafas v. Doll, in which the CAFC found that new Rule 265 — which creates the dreaded Examination Support Document (ESD) — was both procedural and not inconsistent with the Patent Act (see "Tafas v. Doll (Fed. Cir. 2009)"), and the introduction last week…
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By Donald Zuhn — Another day, another bill. The 111th Congress has been on the job for a little more than ten weeks, but despite this short time span, legislators have already introduced seven bills that could significantly impact the life sciences sector if enacted. Among the bills introduced this year are two concerning…
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By Donald Zuhn — Back in January, the Manufacturing Alliance on Patent Policy (MAPP) released a report indicating that the apportionment of damages provisions H.R. 1908 — the patent reform bill passed by the House in September 2007 — would have severe economic effects (see "Manufacturing Alliance on Patent Policy: Apportionment of Damages Provision…
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