Yesterday, the International Trade Commission (ITC) instituted an investigation based on a complaint filed by an apparent non-practicing entity (NPE), SIPCO. The ITC, as Patent Progress has covered in the past [1][2], is intended to protect American manufacturers from unfair foreign competition. So why did the ITC institute an investigation of American companies filed by…
Tag Archive for Abusive Patent Litigation
NPE Resurrects Canceled Patent To Go After Restaurants
by Josh Landau • • 0 Comments
A few years ago, a company called MacroSolve stopped creating products and started creating patent litigation. Its tool was a patent that claimed to cover mobile questionnaires. But after several of their targets decided to fight back, filing an ex parte reexamination request that wound up cancelling all of the claims of its patent, MacroSolve…
If A Free Patent Portfolio License Sounds Too Good To Be True—It Is
by Josh Landau • • 0 Comments
Non-practicing entities (NPEs) are generally companies with only one asset—their patents. So why would an NPE give away licenses to the only things it can generate value from? If it seems too good to be true, that’s because it might be. Act Now For A Free Patent License! iPEL (Innovative Patents, Ethical Licensing) is a…
Using A Trade Court To Avoid Antitrust And FRAND: Qualcomm At The ITC
by Josh Landau •
The first Apple/Qualcomm International Trade Commission (ITC) case is about to kick into high gear, with the prehearing conference scheduled for Friday and the hearing (essentially the equivalent of a trial in the ITC) opening next week. Qualcomm has already dropped several patents from this case and in a companion European case admitted that some…
Sovereign Immunity, Upper Skagit, and Patents
by Josh Landau •
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court released their decision in Upper Skagit Indian Tribe v. Lundgren. The opinion effectively held that the simple fact of in rem jurisdiction does not always bar claims of tribal sovereign immunity. In rem jurisdiction is one argument that might bar the new practice of renting tribal sovereign immunity to…
April Madness Is Here
by Josh Landau •
March Madness is over, with the Big Ten not taking home a championship. (A sad day for Michigan fans like me.) But that’s okay—in April, the Big Ten Network has plenty to keep busy with. Baseball, softball, tennis, track and field, rowing… And patent lawsuits. At-Home Broadcasting About a decade ago, the Big Ten created…
Why Is The ITC Instituting Investigations On Expiring Patents?
by Josh Landau •
Yesterday, the ITC published the Federal Register notice of the initial determination of an ITC administrative law judge (ALJ). The ALJ determined that the investigation, instituted in January based on a complaint filed last year, shouldn’t go further forward and terminated the case for good cause. I’m going to totally set aside the merits of…
Courts Will Swipe Left On Tinder’s Suit Against Bumble
by Josh Landau •
Tinder swiped right on a lawsuit against Bumble last week, but their lawsuit has more than just surface flaws. Tinder’s lawsuit alleges a number of forms of intellectual property violations—but basically, it comes down to claiming that they own the idea and the design of swiping, especially for a dating app. A Brief History Of…
Tribal Immunity May Not Be Wonder Drug For Allergan
by Josh Landau •
This article was originally published on Law360 and is reprinted here. You’ve probably already heard the story. Allergan PLC owns patents related to relieving dry eyes. These patents allegedly read on their drug Restasis. They expired in 2014, leading to a group of generic manufacturers getting ready to enter the market with generic versions of the drug. In…
Big Tech vs. Big Pharma: An Article Filled With Big Errors
by Josh Landau •
On Monday, the Financial Times published an article by Rana Foroohar. While there are a lot of flaws in the article, one particularly pernicious myth shows up—the myth that patent trolls aren’t really a problem. Purporting to look at patent reform as a battle between the tech industry and pharmaceutical manufacturers, the FT article gives…