Patent reexamination a real threat to value
Patent reexamination is the process whereby either a patent owner or third party has a patent reexamined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to verify the claims are patentable. An ex parte application can be undertaken by any party (anonymously) with the goal of having the USPTO review new evidence regarding patentability. According [...]
Apple granted touch-screen-related patent
Writing about Apple patents would be a full time endeavor, and much of it would be repetitive. However, last week’s awarding to Apple of patent 7,966,578 on certain touch screen display technologies now synonymous with iPhones, iTouches and iPads is worth reviewing. Readers familiar with the one-finger flick for changing pages and two-finger scrolling and [...]
A new option for getting your staff up to speed on IP value issues
BVR’s new IP Desktop Learning Center is up and running. The over two-dozen programs range from patent infringement damages to valuing web-based companies, and many of the leading IP valuation experts in the US and overseas are featured. Many of the training modules are free. A small sampling of the training modules available for the first [...]
Valuing sports franchises: intangible asset experts will dominate
“Intangible assets often comprise approximately 90% of total sports franchise value,” said Drew Dorweiler (Dartmouth Partners Limited), a featured speaker at the recent NACVA/IBA conference in San Diego. Each of the five general categories of intangible expenses set forth by SFAS 141 (Appendix A) can apply to sports-related properties, including: Customer related intangibles, such as [...]
Trademark lawyers’ Full Employment Act?
The board of directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved a plan to allow generic, top-level domain registrations of any word. Trademark lawyers will be vigilantly watching potentially infringing domain names. Soon we might see .phone, or .automobile, but maybe .tiffany or .appstore. ICANN thought through some of this, as they [...]
Some technology transfer is regulated by strict “deemed” export controls
Many companies and research organizations must limit access to their manufacturing or research facilities because of the complex Export Administration Regulations and punitive rules on “deemed exports” of controlled technology. An export of technology or source code (except encryption source code) is “deemed” to take place when it is released to a foreign national within [...]
One Righthaven judge also took an expanded view of “fair use”
BVR’s IPBlog has looked at Righthaven’s tactics to enforce copyrights and the recent U.S. District Court decisions that questioned those tactics and Righthaven’s standing to sue. What got overshadowed was one judge’s concomitant ruling that allowed a website posting of a word-for-word, 19-paragraph article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal without the publisher’s permission as “fair use.” [...]
Licensing databases can save IP managers time and create valuable budget room
Prometheus Equity Partners are business advisors who assist in taking technology to global markets. They have developed a complex checklist, what they call the Technology Commercialization Toolbox, for technology transfer officers. The Toolbox takes the project manager through Evaluation, Development, Team Development, and Marketing. The last checklist is Marketing Technology Licenses, which was discussed in [...]
House passes patent reform, the “Leahy-Smith America Invents Act”
The Bill labeled as “patently unfair to inventors” by Rep. Conyers (D-MI) withstood lively debate on constitutionality, its reportedly favoring big business over the small inventor, and Sen. Schumer’s (D-NY) infamous Sec. 18, the special interest section designed to give financial institutions an easier path to challenging business methods patents, was passed late yesterday by [...]
House debate on HR 1249 takes a slight detour
The long-awaited House floor debate on the America Invents Act (HR 1249) had to await a sub-debate, it appears. Is the change from first-to- invent to first-inventor-to-file constitutional? Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution grants Congress the power to “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times [...]
Share your thoughts...