On July 13, 2013, the New York Times published an article on Erich Spangenberg's business enterprise, IPNav, which is considered to be one of the largest Patent Assertion Entities (“P.A.E.s”) in the world. Analyzing the business model of P.A.E.s is important to understanding the legal limits of these entities.
Is a podcast analogous to a cassette tape recording of a magazine article? Jim Logan of Personal Audio thinks that it is, and that it thereby infringes his patent.
Re-examination and invalidity proceedings each play an important role in the patent system, offering different avenues that narrow or invalidate existing patent claims. However, a lack of clarity on how the two provisions co-exist has led to litigation which this editor believes could be avoided through legislative amendments to the American patent regime. Similar issues […]
In September 2012, United States patent reform legislation goes into effect. (The “America Invents Act.” or AIA, Pub.L. No. 112–29; House Report No. 112–98 ,112TH Cong., 1ST Sess. 2011. Referenced as “Report.”) The Report states that the AIA was the first “comprehensive patent law reform in nearly 60 years.” The legislative process took six years […]
Dan Whalen is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Among the nearly 500 bills that died with the end of the 40th Canadian Parliament last Friday was Bill C-393, Canada’s Act to amend the Patent Act. The bill proposes to modify Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR), itself an amendment to the Patent […]
Dan Whalen is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School In an interesting turn of events since my post last month, the European Patent Office has recently inked a deal with Google to have the Internet titan do some of its much-debated translation work. Each side will benefit from the arrangement. It takes some […]
Dan Whalen is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School At a meeting held in Brussels last week, EU delegates came no closer to reaching consensus on a unified European patent system. After years of proposals, the monumental task formally began last year after EU members agreed to create a single European patent and a […]
Robert Dewald is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School On May 12, 2010 the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) responded to several questions posed by the President of the EPO, Ms Alison Brimelow, regarding the patentability of computer programs in Europe. The resounding answer to these questions, provided […]
Recently the Working Group of the Intellectual Property Court Users' Committee for reform of the Patents County Court, England and Wales, has published proposals for reforming the Patents County Court (PCC). The proposal aims at providing more affordable and effective Intellectual Property (IP) litigation. Studying the proposal may be fruitful since expensive and time-consuming IP […]
On March 9, 2009, President Obama signed an executive order removing restrictions on federal funding for research involving embryonic stem cells. Prior to the signing, he noted that the Federal government plans to vigorously support scientists who pursue stem cell research. Stem cells are found in almost all multi-cellular organisms and are characterized by their […]