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1. Medtronic, WL Gore Settle Stent Patent Dispute

Monday, Aug 24, 2009

Medtronic Inc. and W.L. Gore & Associates Inc. have agreed to settle their long-running dispute over W.L. Gore's alleged infringement of several Medtronic-held patents on technology used in arterial stents and other medical devices.

2. ITC Launches Samsung Flash Memory Probe

Monday, Aug 24, 2009

The U.S. International Trade Commission announced Monday it would begin investigating several major technology companies using, importing or making Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. flash memory chips, at the behest of BTG International Inc., which claims the chips infringe several of its patents.

3. E.Digital Seeks To Settle With Samsung Over Flash IP

Monday, Aug 24, 2009

E.Digital Corp. has called a truce with Samsung Electronics America Inc. in order to settle the last remaining claims in a patent infringement suit against a number of electronics manufacturers over the use of flash memory devices in consumer electronics.

4. PartsRiver Takes Hit In Web Shopping Patent Suit

Monday, Aug 24, 2009

Data management company PartsRiver Inc. has been dealt a setback in its suit accusing Microsoft Corp., Shopzilla Inc., Yahoo Inc. and eBay Inc. of infringing technology for searching product catalogs online through their shopping Web sites, with a federal judge ruling that two claims of the patent-in-suit are invalid.

5. Former USPTO Patent Judge Joins Sughrue Mion

Monday, Aug 24, 2009

Intellectual property firm Sughrue Mion PLLC announced Monday that it had added U.S. Patent and Trademark Office veteran and former Administrative Patent Judge Stuart S. Levy as of counsel in its Washington headquarters.

6. Northrup Fails To Dodge Claims In Software Suit

Monday, Aug 24, 2009

A federal judge has turned aside Northrup Grumman Corp.'s motions to dismiss infringement and trade secrets-related claims in Pegasus Imaging Corp.'s lawsuit accusing the defense technology company of breaching a license agreement and infringing the software maker’s copyright.

7. Fed. Circ. To Revisit Ariad, Lilly IP Dispute En Banc

Monday, Aug 24, 2009

A federal appeals court has granted Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s request for an en banc rehearing in its patent infringement suit against Eli Lilly & Co. over the drugs Evista and Xigris, vacating an April decision that found Ariad's patent invalid.

8. Tech Co. Exits Actus Electronic Payment Patent Suit

Monday, Aug 24, 2009

Actus LLC has dropped all claims against Marketing Technology Concepts Inc. in its wide-ranging patent infringement suit targeting more than a dozen firms — including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., eBay Inc. and American Express Co. — over four patents Actus holds related to electronic payment systems.

9. LadaTech Sues Illumina Over DNA Analysis Patent

Monday, Aug 24, 2009

LadaTech LLC has filed suit against Illumina Inc. for allegedly infringing a recently confirmed patent related to genome analysis technology.

10. Nintendo, Hillcrest Reach Deal In Suits Over Wii

Monday, Aug 24, 2009

Nintendo Co. has signed a license agreement with Hillcrest Laboratories Inc. and asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to wind down its investigation into allegations that the remote control devices for its hugely popular Wii video game system infringed several of Hillcrest's patents.

11. Maximizing Biotech Patent Protection On A Budget

Monday, Aug 24, 2009

The goal of this article is to emphasize the value of equivalents in the biotechnology arts and to ask applicants to consider initially filing relatively narrow claims under appropriate circumstances to preserve equivalents and save costs, says Steven A. Nash of Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz LLP.

12. 2nd Circ. Upholds Yahoo Win In Webcasting Dispute

Friday, Aug 21, 2009

A federal appeals court has rejected a challenge by several music labels — including Sony Music Entertainment Inc. units Arista Records LLC and BMG Music — to Yahoo Inc.'s Internet radio service, calling it the first-ever ruling that webcasting services such as Yahoo's are not required to pay individual licensing fees for the songs users play.

13. Retired Players Sack NFL Over Unpaid Use Of Likeness

Friday, Aug 21, 2009

A group of retired National Football League players, including Pro Football Hall of Famer Elvin Bethea, has hit the league with a putative class action for trademark infringement, alleging the NFL has used the players' likenesses without authorization or compensation to promote the league, sell merchandise and generate revenue.

14. Symantec Wins JMOL In Network Security Patent Spat

Friday, Aug 21, 2009

A federal judge has denied post-trial relief for SRI International while granting judgments as a matter of law to Internet Security Systems Inc. and Symantec Corp. on some claims, following a jury's finding that the two security software companies infringed two out of three SRI patents for network intrusion technology.

15. Wham-O Seeks To Protect 'Hula Hoop,' 'Frisbee' Marks

Friday, Aug 21, 2009

Toy maker Wham-O Inc. wants a federal appeals court to overturn a judge's decision to toss a declaratory judgment suit in which Wham-O asked the court to declare that its "Slip 'N Slide," "Hula Hoop" and "Frisbee" trademarks had not become generic.

16. Songwriter Strikes Out In Copyright Suit Over MLB Ad

Friday, Aug 21, 2009

The composer of a love anthem for the Boston Red Sox has failed to score in a copyright infringement suit against the band Bon Jovi, Major League Baseball and others, with a federal judge finding that his tune bore little resemblance to a Bon Jovi song featured in commercials aired during the 2007 baseball post-season.

17. ITC Orders O2 Micro Employees To Talk

Friday, Aug 21, 2009

A U.S. International Trade Commission judge has rejected a request by technology security company O2 Micro International Ltd. to bar the deposition of 11 of its employees in the company's patent infringement dispute with Monolithic Power Systems Inc. and other technology designers.

18. Verizon Units Face Fiber-Optic Patent Suit

Friday, Aug 21, 2009

An Ann Arbor, Mich.-based patent-holding firm has rounded up three units of Verizon Communications Inc. in a patent infringement suit over fiber-optic communication technology.

19. Clean Energy Patents Reach New High In Q2: Report

Friday, Aug 21, 2009

The number of U.S. patents granted in the clean energy sector has reached a new quarterly high, with fuel cell, wind and solar patents particularly on the upswing, according to a report by intellectual property firm Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti PC.

20. Q&A With Drinker Biddle's Patrick Kelleher

Friday, Aug 21, 2009

It has become far too common for patentees to stretch the scope of their claims beyond all reasonable bounds, and patent rules ought to be applied in a way that allows quick resolution of cases where a patent can't possibly cover the accused product, says Patrick J. Kelleher, co-chair of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP’s intellectual property litigation practice.