Featured Posts
- Facebook Loses Reexaminations of Pragmatus’ Patents
- How is Reexamination Treating Round Rock Research?
- Reexamination has not Saved Apple against MobileMedia Patents, So Far
- What is an “Involved Application” in IPR Practice?
- Apple Victorious over Affinity Labs of Texas’ Portable Audio Player Patent
- Think IP Strategy Offers 2011 News Almanac
- An Update on Oracle’s Infringement Case against Google
- PTO Requests Public Comment on Proposed Rules for AIA Post-Issuance Proceedings
- Microsoft-i4i, Oracle-Google & VirnetX-Apple-Cisco Updates
- Oracle Patent to Emerge from Reexamination
- VirnetX again Sues for Infringement, and again Faces Reexaminations
- How Strong are Google’s Requests for Reexamination of the Lodsys Patents?
- PTO Board Sides with NVIDIA on Two Rambus “Barth I” Patents
- Oracle ‘520 Moves toward Confirmation in Reexamination
- Google Gets Mixed Result against Oracle’s Seventh Patent
- Did Google Request Reexamination of Lodsys Patents?
- Two Updates
- Oracle v. Google Android® Update
- Rambus Wins Limited Exclusion Order at ITC against NVIDIA, despite Pending Reexaminations
- 最初が肝心：不備のない再審査請求書を作成するために
- That’s My Patent You’re Reexamining…
- “Why Wait for Oppositions?” by Scott Daniels, 47 IDEA 343 (Law Review of Franklin Pierce Law School)
- The Basics
Noteworthy Links
- "The Interplay between Reexaminations, Preliminary Injunctions and Stays of Litigation" - by Dennis Crouch at PATENTLYO.COM
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- All Things Pros
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- IPWatchdog
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Recent Requests
PTO Statistics
Attack on Two Applied Biosystems Nucleic Acid Probes among the Reexamination Requests Filed the Week of April 2, 2012
| April 10, 2012
Reexamination was requested last week of two patents owned by Applied Biosystems, claiming fluorescent probes for detected nucleic acid amplification (see ex parte Request Nos. (1) & (2)). Although the Patent Office records do not yet disclose the identity of the requester, it is likely to be Midland Certified Reagent that has been sued by Applied Biosystems for infringement of the two patents.
Reexamination was also requested for three RFID patents owned by Round Rock Research (see ex parte Request Nos. (8), (9) & (14)). Round Rock also received disappointing news last week when Judge Richard Andrews of Delaware stayed its infringement actions against Dole Food, GAP and Hanesbrands pending completion of the reexamination of the five patents-in-suit. Judge Andrews included an amusing comment in his decision: when dealing with the consideration of whether the stay motion had been filed for a “tactical reason,” he noted the obvious that “parties are constantly seeking tactical advantages.”
Announcing WHDA’s free app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
| April 3, 2012
We interrupt our normal posting to make an exciting announcement! WHDA has just released “WHDA Connect”—a free app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. With it you can:
*Read our blogs about the latest patent and trademark news, with optional push notifications. Non-native English speakers will find the built-in dictionary helpful – activated when you tap-and-hold a word (requires iOS 5.0+).
*Get simple access to the most powerful IP resources on the web, such as databases of major world patent offices.
*Learn more about our services and skill sets.
*Access our directory of professionals.
*Call or email our professionals with just a tap.
*Simplify visits to our offices with GPS-guided directions.
Tags: app > Apple > iPad > iPhone > iPod > iPod touch > iTunes > mobile app > WHDA > WHDA blogs
Two Quick Notes
| April 3, 2012
1. “Troll Buster” Requests Reexamination
Is it possible to file a reexamination request over the weekend? Of course, and Jeff Oster, aka, “Troll Buster” proved it by requesting reexamination of two nucleic acid probe patents on Sunday (April Fool’s Day, no less) – U.S. Patent Nos. 5,538,848 & 5,723,591.
The parallel infringement action in the Northern District of California, however, is a serious matter. There, Applied Biosystems and Life Technologies have sued Midland Certified Reagent, Biosearch Technologies and Bio-Synthesis in February for infringement of the ‘848 and ‘591 patents, plus three other patents claiming hybridization assay probes. Presumably, reexamination requests for the other three patents are on the way.
2. PTO Board Affirms Rejection of Genzyme’s Doxercalciferol Patent
Last Thursday, the Patent Office Board of Appeals affirmed the reexamination rejection of the claims of Genzyme’s U.S. Patent No. 7,148,211 as obvious over the prior art. The ‘211 patent, that has been the subject of several major infringement actions in Delaware and the Eastern District of Illinois, claims a parenteral formulation containing doxercalciferol with a specific antioxidant.
Ten days ago, Judge Robert M. Dow determined that a related Genzyme patent was valid and infringed by Pentech Pharmaceutical and Cobrek Pharmaceutical.
Challenge to Social Networking Patent among the Reexamination Requests Filed Week of March 26, 2012
| April 3, 2012
Earlier this year, Real Time Social Inventions sued ten companies, including Facebook and Oracle, for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7,853,881. Now, RT Social Networks has requested reexamination (see inter partes Request No. (2)), stating that it is the only real party in interest, even though RT Social Networks is not one of the defendants named in those infringement actions.
An unidentified party has requested reexamination of an Intellectual Ventures voice recognition patent (see ex parte Request No. (8)). There does not appear to be a parallel District Court case, continuing a recent trend of reexamination being requested against “assertion entities,” even in the absence of litigation.
Apple was in the news, requesting reexamination of the VirnetX patent (see inter partes Request No. (3)) that was recently added to the infringement case involving the two companies (as well as Cisco) in the Eastern District of Texas.
