An important part of the Apple v. Samsung trial is about the exterior casing design patents. But those aren’t the only design patents at issue—the other design patent in the case covers a colorful grid of icons with particular characteristics like rounded corners and variable icons: As a reminder, a design patent covers a “new,…
Blog Posts
Did You Buy Your Car Just Because Of The Cup Holder?
by Josh Landau •
Opening arguments in Apple v. Samsung started this morning. While round six of the long-running case deals with smartphone patents, the potential impacts range much further. As I noted in my post yesterday, a rule of design patent damages that allows patentees to receive the total profits on the entire product even though the design…
Apple v. Samsung, Round Six
by Josh Landau •
A district court trial. A retrial, after part of the verdict was vacated. An appeal to the Federal Circuit. A Supreme Court opinion with a remand to the Federal Circuit. A remand from the Federal Circuit back to the district court. Seven years after Apple originally filed suit against Samsung, we’re right back in Judge…
Nikola v. Tesla Illustrates Danger Of Overreaching With Design Patents
by Josh Landau •
Last week, Nikola sued Tesla over advanced technology trucks. But it isn’t about the technology. It’s not AC vs. DC or Edison vs. Tesla. It isn’t even about electric vehicles (or hydrogen-electric trucks, Nikola’s chosen technology). It’s about the shapes of windshields and doors. It’s about design patents. And Nikola got it all wrong. A…
A Little More Than Forty Percent: Outcomes At The PTAB, District Court, and the EPO
by Josh Landau •
In the run-up to Oil States, a frequent criticism by opponents of patent reform was that the PTAB was “unfair” and that it invalidated patents at a rate far higher than the district courts would if they had the chance. Unfortunately this is contradicted by the actual facts, which is something we’ve seen before…
PTAB Will Continue To Double-Check Its Work—All Of It
by Josh Landau •
Today, the Supreme Court issued two opinions in cases focused on the inter partes review (IPR) procedure. First, in Oil States v. Greene’s Energy Group, the Court upheld the constitutionality of IPR by a 7-2 vote. Second, in a more narrowly divided 5-4 decision in SAS v. Matal, the Court decided that the PTAB’s practice…
Iancu’s First Hearing Answers Questions, Leaves More Open
by Josh Landau •
On Wednesday, April 18, new USPTO Director Andrei Iancu appeared for his first oversight hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Director was more open with the Committee compared to his confirmation process, leading to some interesting discussions. Algorithms Are Already Patentable A number of questions focused on the issue of patentable subject…
The Patent Examination Process Shouldn’t Be An Oversight
by Josh Landau •
Director Iancu will be appearing for his first oversight hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, April 18. This follows on his recent speech at the Chamber of Commerce, at which he emphasized two areas of focus: Patent rights should be more predictable and the system should be more stable. When discussing the patent system, dialogue should be more…
What’s In A Name? At The Patent Office, Possibly More Than You Think
by Josh Landau •
In an ideal world, patent examiners are perfect neutral arbiters. They find the best prior art and always make the right decision as to whether an idea is new and entitled to a patent. In this world, we wouldn’t need inter partes review or validity challenges in court—examiners would get it right the first time.…
Samsung Takes Over As The Largest Recipient Of U.S. Patents
by Josh Landau •
According to recently released data from IAM/ktMine, Samsung is now the largest recipient of active U.S. patents in the world.1 IBM, Canon, Microsoft, and Intel round out the top 5. Recently granted Samsung patents range from OLED display technology to stacked semiconductor memory to improved RF communication techniques to biometric security on devices. (They also…