Overlawyered » patent law

High court rejects medical-method patent

Walter Olson — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:12:52 +0000

A unanimous Supreme Court has struck down a patent over diagnostic methods in medicine, the latest in a series of controversies over the bounds of patentable subject matter. [Mayo v. Prometheus Labs; Marcia Coyle/NLJ, SCOTUSBlog, Timothy Lee/ArsTechnica] As I noted last fall, my Cato Institute colleagues Ilya Shapiro, Jim Harper and Timothy Lee filed an amicus brief on behalf of the side that prevailed yesterday, arguing against the spread of “a dangerous exception to traditional patent law… the Court should reject medical-diagnostic patents as impermissibly restricting the freedom of thought.”

Tags: medical, patent law, Supreme Court

High court rejects medical-method patent is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Patent litigation vs. software startups

Walter Olson — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 13:16:30 +0000

Bad enough to be an established software firm and get hit with lawsuits from competitors or patent trolls. But even companies at the early startup stage now face legal attack, and patent law (unlike copyright) assigns liability even if there has been no knowing act of imitation or appropriation, which complicates the task of defense. “Merely asking a patent lawyer to evaluate the case and advise a company on whether it was guilty of infringement could cost a firm tens of thousands of dollars. And a full-blown patent lawsuit could easily carry a price tag in the millions of dollars, with no guarantee of recovering attorney’s fees even if the defendant prevailed.” In practice, some firms like Microsoft whose portfolios amount to “patent thickets” can establish themselves as gatekeepers to the industry. [Timothy Lee, Slate]

And: “New Patent Regs May Inspire More Litigation, Not Less” [Daniel Fisher, Forbes]

Tags: Microsoft, patent law, technology

Patent litigation vs. software startups is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

No more tax avoidance strategy patents?

Walter Olson — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:46:58 +0000

The new patent reform bill may end, or at least restrict, the odd practice of asserting patents on ways to reduce tax liability. [Legal Ethics Forum, earlier here, here, etc.]

Tags: patent law, taxes

No more tax avoidance strategy patents? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Process patents” at the Supreme Court

Walter Olson — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 18:38:57 +0000

My Cato Institute colleagues have filed an amicus brief arguing against the spread of “a dangerous exception to traditional patent law… the Court should reject medical-diagnostic patents as impermissibly restricting the freedom of thought.” [Mayo v. Prometheus Labs; Ilya Shapiro, Jim Harper and Timothy Lee, Cato]

Tags: medical, patent law

“Process patents” at the Supreme Court is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Patent Bill Viewed as Bailout for a Law Firm”

Walter Olson — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:32:08 +0000

Congress might provide a do-over for a drug firm that inadvertently missed filing for a patent extension by a day or two, and in so doing spare the prominent law firm WilmerHale a possible malpractice payout [Andrew Pollack, New York Times]

Tags: lawyers, patent law, politics

“Patent Bill Viewed as Bailout for a Law Firm” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

September 7 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:10:17 +0000

Truth through intimidation? U.K.: “Chronic fatigue syndrome researchers face death threats from militants” [Guardian] Nanotechnologists are target of Unabomber copycat [Chronicle of Higher Education]
Blogger (and frequent Overlawyered commenter) Amy Alkon criticizes intrusive TSA agent by name, agent threatens $500K libel suit [Mike Masnick/TechDirt, Mark Bennett]
NYT fans “pill mill” hysteria, heedless of the costs [Sullum]
Patent litigant “pursued baseless infringement allegations in bad faith and for an improper purpose.” More loser-pays, please [NLJ, PoL]
Great moments in link solicitation [Scott Greenfield] Quality bar at feminist lawprof blog may not be set terribly high [Popehat]
“Wow, this photo got over 475 views from being reposted on Overlawyered” [Erik Magraken]
“Popular Comic Strip Has Fun With Wacky Warnings” [Bob Dorigo Jones]

Tags: bloggers and the law, libel slander and defamation, loser pays, patent law, pharmaceuticals, science and scientists, wacky warnings

September 7 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

August 10 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 05:34:24 +0000

Maine Supreme Court agrees that not having to show up in court might be reasonable accommodation for plaintiff claiming PTSD disability [Volokh]
Guess how much Richard Kreimer, the New Jersey homeless guy, has made in his many lawsuit settlements [Newark Star-Ledger, PoL]
Given the problems with business-method patents, you can see why banks would want to dodge them [Felix Salmon]
Contempt: “Calling the jailing of a person ‘civil’ doesn’t mean they put curtains on the cell windows.” [Greenfield]
“Class Counsel Request $90.8M In Fees In Black Farmers Case” [BLT]
Law school accreditation, recusal standards, international law among topics in new issue of Federalist Society’s ABA Watch;
Electricity-wise, EPA puts the squeeze on the juice [Andrew Grossman, Heritage; Weston Hicks, AgendaWise; Tatler]

Tags: banks, contempt, disabled rights, international law, Maine, patent law, recusals, Richard Kreimer

August 10 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

July 19 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:52:12 +0000

More on CPSC’s crib ban train wreck [Commissioner Anne Northup, more, earlier]
One man’s nightmare of false accusation [LA Times via PoL]
How many plaintiff’s-side flicks is HBO going to air this summer, anyway? ["Mann v. Ford," Abnormal Use]
Apple granted “incredibly broad patent” over screen gesture technology [Tabarrok]
Will Congress reverse this term’s much-attacked SCOTUS decisions? [Alison Frankel] Podcast on Wal-Mart v. Dukes with Brian Fitzpatrick [Fed Soc] “Wal-Mart ruling no knock-out blow for class actions” [Reuters] Contrary to some assertions, current law does strongly incentivize individual job-bias claims [Bader] More on case: Dan Bushell, and welcome Craig Newmark readers.
Mississippi stops proceedings in $322 million asbestos case to consider judge’s possible conflict [JCL, earlier here, here]
Nice coat, where’dja get it? [annals of incompetent crime, UK Daily Mail]

Tags: CPSC, environment, Ford Motor, Mississippi, patent law, recusals, Wal-Mart v. Dukes

July 19 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“The Plumpy’nut Dustup”

Walter Olson — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 05:11:38 +0000

The nutritional paste seems to be a really useful invention in getting international food assistance to the poor. Does that mean it’s okay to break its patent? [Alanna Sheikh, AidWatch]

Tags: patent law

“The Plumpy’nut Dustup” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Open season for “false marking” bounty-hunters?

Walter Olson — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:26:04 +0000

In June we reported on a boomlet in freelance lawsuits accusing companies of marking their products with outdated patent numbers or with other violations of a federal statute that prohibits the use of false or misleading patent marks on products. On December 28 the Federal Circuit issued a decision that may greatly stimulate the activities of what are already being called “marking trolls”. It holds that courts have discretion to impose the law’s $500 penalty per mislabeled item sold, which means that total penalties might rise to gigantic levels; lawyers who bring the cases then split the proceeds with the federal government in qui tam fashion. Coverage: George Best and Jeffrey Simmons/Foley & Lardner, Robert Matthews, Jr., Patently-O, Rebecca Tushnet and more, Patent Prospector.

Tags: patent law, patent marking, qui tam

Open season for “false marking” bounty-hunters? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system