Category: Patent Infringement

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Ten Facts about Patents

Written by Mark Terry Patents grant you the right to exclude others from making, using, selling or importing a patented product or process. Without a patent, others can typically use your ideas and monetize them without any recourse. Patents can be used to protect many different things including products or innovative new ways of doing things, i.e., a process that offers a new solution to a complex problem. It is highly recommended that you enlist the services of a legal professional who will help you through the patent process. I, Mark Terry, am a patent lawyer located in Miami, Florida. In

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Can Filing a Patent Infringement Suit Hurt You in a Re-Exam?

Written by Mark Terry I came upon a super interesting Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) decision issued today. I found the Smucker v. Mack-Ray case interesting for both educational and entertainment reasons. The decision involves the effect an infringement action may have on a re-exam. But the BPAI used uncharacteristically harsh words to reject the Appellant’s arguments, which made it amusing. It’s rare to see any emotion in a BPAI decision, so when you see Jones Day get a verbal spanking, you can’t help but write about it. In the Smuckers v. Mack-Ray case, the patent owner had sued the defendant for patent infringement

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Patent Reform: Will It Protect Your Inventions?

Written by Mark Terry The Patent Transparency and Improvements Act (Bill, S. 1720), seeks to improve transparency and to remedy problems associated with patent trolls and others that file frivolous lawsuits using their patents. Trolls are turning out to be a formidable opponent to the patent reform process by engaging in some heavy lobbying. Trolls have cost companies billions of dollars due to weaknesses in the patent system. As a practicing patent attorney I walk a fine line between writing a claim that is so broad it is enforceable, and writing a claim that is so narrow, an  infringer can

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How to lose your “ordinary dictionary meaning” argument at the Board of Patent Appeals

Written by Mark Terry Today’s first Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) decision involved an eloquent exposition of the relationship between claim construction and ordinary dictionary meaning. The case of Ex parte Benson involved a 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of a claim that turned on the construction of the claim term “embedded.” As a Patent Attorney in Miami with a full docket of patent cases, BPAI decisions that involve claim construction are highly topical for me. In Ex parte Benson, the BPAI explored the issue of how the claim term “embedded” should be construed. The Applicant argued the claim term should be given the

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Can a Product Infringe a Method of Manufacture Patent?

Written by Mark Terry Yes, it can. A product can most definitely infringe a method of manufacture patent. I recently sent a cease a desist letter to a retailer of a luggage product that was manufactured using my client’s patented method of manufacture. His attorney – a patent attorney who’d been practicing for many years – responded with a letter that tersely stated, “all of the claims of the ‘226 patent are method claims and this no product could infringe a claim, only the practicing of a method could infringe.” That’s it – that’s all he had to say about

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The Value of Patents in the World of IT

Written by: Mark Terry Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is preparing its estimated $16 Billion IPO by fortressing itself with patents. Although Alibaba has more than 1,900 issued patents and pending applications in Asia, it has also been aggressively filing patent applications in the U.S. China’s largest e-commerce company has obtained 102 U.S. patents, including 20 purchased from IBM Corp. Alibaba has 300 pending patent applications for technologies like product recommendations, payment processing and picture searches. Why the patent buying spree? If you’re an innovator like IBM, you obtain patents to protect the hard work and millions of dollars that has

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SHOULD PATENTS BE TREATED AS JUST ANOTHER INVESTMENT VEHICLE?

Written by: Mark Terry In light of all of the news about patent reform legislation and the backlash against Non-Practicing Entities (NPE) [you know … patent trolls], did you know that large corporations like Microsoft, Sony, Apple, Intel, and Google invest or have invested in patent funds? Why do they do it? Has it helped fuel infringement lawsuits? We explore these issues here.   Intellectual Ventures (IV) has opened funds to investors since 2000 and is currently courting investors to invest in its planned $3 billion fund for investing in patents. Microsoft and Sony have subscribed, but Intel and Apple

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The High-Tech Patent Wars Continue…

Written by: Mark Terry The high-tech world is continuing its 20-way patent infringement war, but it’s not the usual suspects – it’s Yahoo vs. Facebook. Yahoo’s lawsuit claims that Facebook is infringing on Yahoo’s social networking patent (US7599935), which may be the basis of Facebook’s networking platform. As of late, the superstar high tech companies have been aggressively taking it to their competitors to protect their current revenue streams, but also, more importantly, to secure a dominant position in the future. Yahoo, which has been struggling over the last three years, recently lost ground to Facebook in the online advertising market. There is

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International Trade Commission: Mitsubishi Doesn’t Infringe GE Turbine Patent – Florida Patent Lawyer Blog

Written by Mark Terry  This Friday, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a notice stating that Mitsubishi does not infringe GE’s wind turbine patent, thereby ending a long-running legal dispute between the two companies at the ITC. The patent infringement dispute dates back to early 2008 when GE claimed that Mitsubishi infringed upon GE’s wind turbine patents in a complaint filed with the ITC, in an effort to block the importation of Mitsubishi’s wind turbine products into the U.S. The effort, however, backfired and exposed the weaknesses of using the ITC as a forum for a patent infringement dispute.

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Kodak and Samsung Settle Patent Infringement Dispute – Florida Patent Lawyer Blog

Written by Mark Terry  On Monday, Kodak and Samsung settled a long-running patent infringement dispute spanning several years and multiple continents. The settlement includes a patent license agreement wherein each side gains a patent license for the other’s patents. The license agreement, which provides appreciable benefits to both parties, is royalty bearing to Kodak. Additional financial details were not disclosed. As a Florida patent lawyer that frequently deals with patent infringement disputes, this case illustrates various important aspects surrounding patent litigation. This case illustrates how a legal dispute can easily escalate into a world-wide battle requiring enormous resources. This disagreement

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