A client of ours owns and runs a successful mid-size manufacturing business. He recently received an invoice that appeared to be from the US Patent and Trademark Office. He had a patent maintenance fee coming up, so he paid the invoice. The invoice was not from the USPTO. I believed that his money had moved […]
Online marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart make patent infringement easy, quick, and largely anonymous. The marketplaces are not liable for infringement by their sellers, so a patent owner may be left playing whack-a-mole, pursuing multiple infringers from overseas (we’re looking at you, China) hiding behind fictitious names. As soon as an ad for an infringing product is […]
Imagine this situation: You are one of a group of three Inventors. You are all smart, impressive people. One of you holds a PhD in chemical engineering and has a long career in industry Another of you is a computer scientist. A third runs her own AI development company. You all share a surname. The […]
U.S. Constitution Article III set up the Federal court system of judges of the U.S. district courts, the U.S. Courts of Appeals, and Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Federal courts generally address questions where Federal laws or the Federal Constitution are involved or disputes between residents of different states. The Federal judges and Justices […]
The year was 1809. Oliver Evans, Philadelphia inventor, author, and entrepreneur, was having a very bad day. He was in the middle of yet another lawsuit against yet another person who copied Evan’s automated (and patented) flour mill. A justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, clearly hostile to inventors, announced in court that a patent right […]
So your patent is being infringed. What can you do about it? Sue the bastards, of course. But where? U.S. Federal courts have jurisdiction over patent infringement, so the lawsuit must be filed in Federal, as opposed to state, court. But which one? There are Federal courts in each U.S. state and each U.S. […]
Last month we told you about an Idaho statutethat directly limits the ability of a U.S. patent owner to access Federal court to enforce a U.S. patent. Applying the Idaho state law, a Federal judge sitting in Idaho required the patent owner to post an $8 million bond to pursue a patent infringement lawsuit. The problem […]
The short answer is – we’re about to find out. An inventor’s patent rights are based on the U.S. Constitution: “Congress shall have power… to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” Congress has exercised this power by […]
Your faithful correspondent finds the beach superior in concept to execution. The concept is a sun-drenched paradise, with clear waves gently lapping on the white sand and whales cavorting in the distance. The reality is sun burn, dehydration, sand too hot to walk on and saltwater mosquitoes that drain a pint at a time. In […]
Let’s say you’re the leader of a very big company. You know with the serene confidence of entitlement that you and your company are very, very important – much more important than the little, insignificant, unimportant people out there – the ones who own patents.1 You’re annoyed that the unimportant people, the ones who own patents, get […]
