Domestic and International Patents, Trademarks, and IP Strategy
“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”
via Apple Sues HTC for Patent Infringement – Barrons.com.
A recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers study suggests that nonpracticing entities (NPE), more commonly referred to as patent trolls, are thriving.
The largest award went to Dr. Bruce Saffran who, in 2008, was awarded nearly $432 million in damages (and, not reported in the study, another $69 million in pre-judgment interest awarded by the judge after the trial). A jury found that Boston Scientific Corporation infringed on his drug-eluting stent system patent.
Rambus, a company that at one time actually sold computer memory but now proudly bills itself as “one of the world’s premier technology licensing companies,” was recently awarded $397 million plus future royalties in a final judgment against Hynix Semiconductor. Not to be stopped, Rambus is now pursuing damages against NVIDIA, a maker of computer graphics chips. A favorable decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) found three of five asserted Rambus patents to be valid, enforceable, and infringed by NVIDIA.
Some other highlights of the study include:
• Damages awards for NPEs have averaged more than double those for practicing entities since 1995.
• Annual median damages award has ranged from $2.2 to $10.6 million, with no discernible trend since 1995.
* Up 23 percent from 2010′s expected budget.
* Proposal to increase statutory patent fees by 15 percent.
* USPTO hoping to reduce average of 34.6 months to approve or reject a patent application.
links: FY2010 President’s Budget Request, USPTO Budget, Plans, and Reports.
(via U.S. patent office gets boost in Obama budget | Reuters)
So, will we see lawsuits for infringement, not of the patents that are sold, but for determining how much to sell them for?
7,493,262 Method for valuing intellectual property
7,386,460 System and method for developing and implementing intellectual property marketing
7,346,545 Method and system for payment of intellectual property royalties by interposed sponsor on behalf of consumer over a telecommunications network
7,346,518 System and method for determining the marketability of intellectual property assets
7,315,836 Method for obtaining and allocating investment income based on the capitalization of intellectual property
7,292,994 System and method for establishing value and financing of intellectual property
7,272,572 Method and system for facilitating the transfer of intellectual property
7,269,566 Method for obtaining and allocating investment income based on the capitalization of intellectual property
7,228,288 Method of repeatedly securitizing intellectual property assets and facilitating investments therein
7,216,100 Method for obtaining and allocating investment income based on the capitalization of intellectual property
7,188,069 Method for valuing intellectual property
6,959,280 Method of protecting against a change in value of intellectual property, and product providing such protection
6,330,547 Method and apparatus for establishing and enhancing the creditworthiness of intellectual property
6,018,714 Method of protecting against a change in value of intellectual property, and product providing such protection
via Ip Prospective “Proof of a Burgeoning Market: Patenting IP Valuation Methods | IP P®OSPE©TIVE“; 12:01 Tuesday “Patenting the Business of Patents“.
May 26, 1981: Programmer-Attorney Wins First U.S. Software Patent
via May 26, 1981: Programmer-Attorney Wins First U.S. Software Patent | This Day In Tech | Wired.com.
Link: U.S. Patent No. 4,270,182.
EPC Rule 36:
(1) The applicant may file a divisional application relating to any pending earlier European patent application.
(2) A divisional application shall be in the language of the proceedings for the earlier application and shall be filed with the European Patent Office in Munich, The Hague or Berlin.
