Patent Law

Patent Holding Company on the Defensive in Attorney Fee Dispute

A patent holding company that unsuccessfully sued Palm and other defendants is now on the defensive, as Palm pursues attorney fees awarded by a judge who questioned the holding company’s pretrial investigation and discovery conduct. In an effort to recover the awarded fees, Palm has filed a motion seeking to…

May 21, 2008 10:41 AM CDT

Dickstein Contingent-Fee Payout Could Be $600K Per Partner

It’s a good time to be a partner at Dickstein Shapiro, an article in this month’s Washingtonian magazine notes. Under a partial contingent-fee arrangement in a patent case, each of the firm’s 150 partners can expect an average payout of $600,000, if a $501 million Texas federal jury award (apparently…

May 20, 2008 11:08 PM CDT

Federal Circuit to Consider Patents for Business Methods Today

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will consider a case today that will help determine what kinds of business methods are eligible for patents. The case, In re Bilski, asks whether a patent can be issued for a method used by a commodity provider to manage the…

May 8, 2008 10:45 AM CDT

Law Prof Finds Flaw That Could Invalidate Thousands of Patent Decisions

Law professor John Duffy of George Washington University figured he was missing something when he discovered a flaw in the appointment process for judges who decide patent disputes. The Constitution’s appointments clause requires “inferior officers” of government to be appointed only by the president, the courts or “heads of departments”…

May 6, 2008 11:22 AM CDT

Allegations That Rambus Shredded Documents Are Moot, Court Says

Memory chip technology developer Rambus protected itself from a judge’s stinging opinion when it offered to pay opponent Samsung’s legal fees after allegations Rambus shredded documents in advance of patent litigation. U.S. District Judge Robert Payne of Virginia had criticized the company two years ago for its actions, but yesterday…

Apr 30, 2008 4:14 PM CDT

Paralegal Says Victoria’s Secret Stole ‘Very Sexy’ Bra Design

A paralegal in New York says Victoria Secret infringed on her 2004 patented bra design when the company created its “Very Sexy” convertible model. Katerina Plew, 38, says she spent about $12,000 to patent her design and develop a prototype, but began contacting companies seeking a manufacturing partner when she…

Apr 22, 2008 3:43 PM CDT

Shocked Judge Says A&O Overbilled; Firm Spent $10.4M for 5-Day Trial

Updated: A shocked judge on the United Kingdom’s High Court has criticized one of the country’s most prominent law firms for spending way too much time representing Research In Motion UK in an infringement case concerning BlackBerry patents. Justice Christopher Floyd pointed out that Allen & Overy racked up nearly…

Apr 18, 2008 4:51 PM CDT

Judge Overturns Rule Changes to Streamline the Patent Process

A federal judge in Virginia has ruled the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office doesn’t have the authority to make rule changes designed to streamline the patent process. Patent applicants had been “apoplectic” over the PTO proposal, which was designed to make the patent process more efficient by encouraging patent applicants…

Apr 2, 2008 2:26 PM CDT

Discovery Debacle: How Not to Duplicate Qualcomm’s E-Mail Issues

After some $10 million in court-ordered penalties, attorney sanctions and a switch of both in-house and outside counsel, it is clear that Qualcomm Inc. didn’t handle its discovery obligations in a patent dispute with Broadcom Corp. in an optimal manner. But despite these severe sanctions over 46,000 e-mails that Qualcomm…

Mar 6, 2008 1:32 AM CST

Troll Tracker Outs Himself, $15K Reward Remains Unclaimed

The anonymous author of the Patent Troll Tracker blog has revealed that he is Richard Frenkel, an intellectual property lawyer who is a director in Cisco Systems’ IP group. Frenkel said he decided to out himself after he received an e-mail threat from someone who threatened to go public with…

Feb 26, 2008 12:23 PM CST

McDermott Ordered to Pay Attorney Fees for ‘Abuse of Advocacy’

A federal judge in Colorado has ordered McDermott Will & Emery and one of its clients to pay the legal fees of an opponent in a patent infringement case because of “abuse of advocacy.” U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch chastised two McDermott lawyers, Terrence McMahon and Vera Elson, in his…

Feb 15, 2008 12:57 PM CST

Bell Boyd Raids 2 San Diego Firms, Opens New Office

A well-known Chicago-based firm is establishing a West Coast presence, raiding two San Diego law offices to open a six-attorney outpost there. (It will also be staffed from the outset with seven Ph.D-credentialed specialists, and two of the lawyers apparently have Ph.Ds, too.) The partners at the helm of Bell,…

Feb 13, 2008 11:15 PM CST

Sixth-Highest Patent Verdict Reported

A federal jury in Texas has awarded a New Jersey radiologist $431.9 million in a suit against Boston Scientific Corp. for infringing his patent for a heart stent. Plaintiff Bruce Saffran has also sued Johnson & Johnson in another infringement suit related to stents, the Wall Street Journal reports. The…

Feb 13, 2008 4:54 PM CST

Hedge Fund Sues Over General Counsel’s $10M Bonus

A hedge fund has filed a lawsuit claiming that a $10 million bonus awarded to the general counsel of Transmeta Corp. is “outrageous, illegal and unconscionable.” The stockholder’s derivative suit was filed by Riley Investment Management, which owns about 7 percent of Transmeta and has offered to buy the company,…

Feb 12, 2008 11:45 AM CST

$5K DePaul Student Award Honors Slain IP Lawyer

A $5,000 award has been established in memory of a Chicago intellectual property lawyer who was murdered in a shooting rampage at his law firm in late 2006. The scholarship will be awarded to a third-year student at DePaul University College of Law who is “expected to make the greatest…

Feb 5, 2008 12:39 AM CST