The Patent Prospector
News, information, commentary and "sassy entertainment" relating to the life cycle of patents. Patent Prospector is an "open forum" weblog in that submissions are welcome within the blog's categories.
Author: The primary author is former economist Gary Odom, aka the "Patent Hawk." Another regular author is Jordan Kuhn, a former USPTO examiner.
Blawg Related Categories: Intellectual Property Law • Patent Law • Consultant
Recent Posts from The Patent Prospector
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Out of Hand
The New York Times turns troglodyte on invention, fearing patents can "stifle competition and infringe on the rights of non-patent holders. Not every bright idea should be protected as a property right." Only bright ideas…
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One Upmanship
Inventors and small companies, flush with money burning a hole in their pockets, regularly file an excess of crappy patent applications. Belatedly recognizing this inviolable fact, the patent office now promises to shoot you in…
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License Crossed
Philips and 3M inked a patent cross license in 1995. The next year, 3M spun off Imation. The agreement, which granted license to subsidiaries, continued. In 2003, Imation formed a joint venture that created GDM.…
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Blow Job
GE blew Mitsubishi into the ITC for infringing wind turbine patents 5,083,039; 6,921,985; and 7,321,221. Mitsubishi was initially found in violation for '039 and '985. Then the political breeze blew in. ITC's Office of Unfair…
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Claim Aneurism
Edwards Lifesciences sued Cook over four patents claiming intraluminal grafts to treat aneurisms. The claimed invention was construed to require a "malleable wire," which the accused products lacked, having instead "self-expanding wires." Hence non-infringement. In…
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The One That Got Away
Leland Stanford Junior University and Cetus researched HIV in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Written "agreements provided Cetus with licenses to technology that Stanford created as a result of access to Cetus's materials." In…
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Fraudulent
Advanced Software sued Federal Reserve banks and Fiserv in Federal district court for infringing process patents "for detecting fraudulent bank checks." The checks at issue were U.S. Treasury checks. 28 U.S.C. Section §1498(a), dating to…
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Productivity
In the eyes of an economist, all inventions go to one purpose: increasing human productivity. Less effort for equivalent result. More bang for the buck. Patents are intended as incentive for increasing productivity. Patentability is…
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Brain Damaged
Janssen battled a gaggle of generic drug makers over "a method for treating Alzheimer's disease with galanthamine." The patent of contention was 4,663,318. The issue before the courts was enablement (§112 ¶1), which, on appeal,…
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Antipsychotic
Teva and Sandoz tangled with AstraZeneca by trying to butt in on its patented antipsychotic drug. Their filing an ANDA riled AstraZeneca to assert infringement of 4,879,288. Defendants filed a summary judgment motion of inequitable…