From T-shirts to iPads, trademark suits affect all sorts of businesses
Last March, automaker Chrysler Group LLC filed a lawsuit to stop retailer Pure Detroit from selling T-shirts displaying the phrase “Imported from Detroit,” which is featured in award-winning Chrysler 200 campaigns, first premiering during Super Bowl XLV. Now the two companies have agreed to mediation to try to settle their dispute and have until April 3, [...]
Microsoft, TiVo dismiss patent lawsuits
After two years of duking it out in court, TiVo recently filed a regulatory statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying that it has reached an agreement with Microsoft to dismiss all pending patent litigation and has agreed to drop its counterclaim against Microsoft. While no reason was given for dropping the lawsuits, it [...]
Michigan universities join forces to bring tech to market
To help pull Michigan out of 42nd place among the 50 states in technology start-up activity, the University of Michigan will lead a new two-year, $2.4 million initiative funded by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Joining Michigan will be Wayne State University, Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University, Western Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, and Oakland University reports [...]
What’s Facebook really worth?
There’s ben a lot of hype about Facebook’s real worth going into its fabled IPO, but a comparison with Google suggests that even $75 billion – at the low end of the talk to date – is a stretch, reports Richard Beales in www.slate.com. Google’s revenue of $3.2 billion in 2004 was not far off from [...]
Senate Judiciary members warn against anti-competitive patent use
Two ranking members of the Senate Judiciary Committee recently sent a letter to the Department of Justice expressing their concern that some patents and actions taken to enforce them are stifling competition. Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-Wi.) expressed their fears about how patent fights are playing out [...]
U.S. Supreme Court: Laws of nature are not patentable
In one corner was the might of the intellectual property bar … and in the other corner were Mayo, AARP, and a host of consumer advocates. At issue was whether medical diagnostic processes (instructions for observing changes in a patient relative to a drug’s dosages) are eligible for patent protection. Last week the U.S. Supreme [...]
Facebook “wizening up” to the importance of a comprehensive IP strategy?
In the teeth of Yahoo’s assertion that Facebook is infringing on 10 Yahoo patents, Facebook’s IP managers and legal consultants have obviously come to the conclusion that a planned $100B IPO backed by just 56 patents is a weak position. To gain some bargaining power, Bloomberg reports Facebook has acquired nearly 750 patents from IBM. [...]
First compulsory license granted in India
Section 84 of the Indian Patents Act allows for applications for a compulsory license after three years from the date a patent is granted if just one of three conditions is met: 1. The reasonable requirements of the public with respect to the patented invention are not met; or 2. The patented invention is not [...]
Business valuations need to be an adept balance of science and art
The availability of inexpensive and quick-turnaround options to get a private business valued has Brian Mazar, CEO of American Fortune Mergers & Acquisitions, upset. “Anyone can study and learn the mechanics of placing a value on a business, but those metrics should be the foundation for the rest of the valuation, not the final result,” Mazar [...]
Yahoo versus Facebook: is it time for patent reform?
Yahoo’s lawsuit against Facebook last week alleges that the giant social networking company violated 10 of Yahoo’s software patents is drawing much criticism from the tech community that the whole regime surrounding software patents is flawed. “Many software patents are overly broad. They’re not specific chemical formulas. They’re not discrete technologies. Oftentimes they’re amorphous concepts that [...]
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