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Vermont Approves Legislation Prohibiting Bad Faith Patent Infringement Claims

May 23, 2013
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By Peter Kunin The Vermont House and Senate have approved a first-in-the-nation bill that provides a legal tool for Vermont companies who face extortionate claims of patent infringement from “patent trolls.”  In brief, the legislation gives Vermont companies the ability to bring a lawsuit against patent owners who – acting in bad faith — threaten [...]

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Will Patent Classification Harmonization Based On The Cooperative Patent Classification System Strike A Chord?

April 29, 2013
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By Morgan Heller II As mentioned in my previous post on the Cooperative Patent Classification system (CPC), the International Patent Classification system (IPC), on which the CPC is based, is used by more than 100 patent offices around the world, so that the choice of starting with an IPC-based classification system, i.e., the European Patent Classification [...]

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Employers Just Get No Satisfaction: NH Enacts Law Restricting Use Of Non-Compete Agreements

April 22, 2013
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By Beth Rattigan Employers in New Hampshire now must comply with further restrictions on their ability to enforce non-compete and anti-piracy agreements.  Venturing further into the already murky area of the enforceability of such agreements, New Hampshire recently enacted  N.H. R.S.A. 275:70, which  requires employers to provide non-compete and non-piracy agreements to applicants and employees [...]

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3D Printing: How Will IP Law Handle The “Next Revolution” in Manufacturing?

April 3, 2013
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By Cathleen Stadecker 3D printing technology is becoming more popular as companies such as MakerBot Industries continue to introduce more affordable desktop 3D printers.  With these machines, which work by printing layers of plastic, metal, ceramics or other materials, more and more people are “printing” real-life objects –toys, jewelry, shoes, replacement parts – in their [...]

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The Cooperative Patent Classification System Becomes The Official Patent Classification System At The U.S. And European Patent Offices

March 26, 2013
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By Morgan Heller II: Just this past January, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) each announced the launch of the Cooperative Patent Classification system (CPC) as the official system for classifying patent documents at both patent offices.  In this post, I provide a bit of an introduction to the [...]

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Who Let the Dogs Out? Barking About Whether to “Unleash” Patent Lawyer is Not Privileged.

February 11, 2013
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By Brad Fawley Characterizing Out RAGE LLC’s position as reflecting “a Pavlovian reaction that any communication in which the word ‘lawyer’ or ‘attorney’ is mentioned is the bell that causes the dog named Privilege to salivate” a federal judge ruled that discussions among four executives in two interrelated companies about when to “unleash” and  “sic [...]

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CAFC Scandalized by “Vulgar” Mark for Sweet Product

January 20, 2013
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By Jamie Fitzgerald Today we address suggestive marks – “suggestive” as in meretricious, not as one of the measures of trademark strength. It was three strikes and you’re out for Ms. Marsha Fox, who in 2001 applied to register COCK SUCKER and Design, as depicted, for rooster-shaped chocolate suckers. She stubbornly pursued federal registration of [...]

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Confusingly Similar? Don’t Make Me L.A.F.

November 13, 2012
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by Jamie Fitzgerald August 28, 2011 When Hurricane Irene’s floodwaters savagely inundated central and southern Vermont on August 28, 2011, native Vermonters Eric Mallette and Lyz Tomsuden were inspired to create the battle cry “I Am Vermont Strong,” depicting it on a silhouette of the state. Moving as precipitately as the storm, they arranged to [...]

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Reducing Cost Creep

August 15, 2012
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You’ve prepared well, made yourself available, and as a result, your application appears to be going well.  But, the other day, while you were pushing little Johnny around on his trike and wishing your lawn would just mow itself, you had an idea—an improvement on your original concept—your toilet breathing apparatus should have a face [...]

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Invalidating Expired Patents During Reexamination—Not A Sure Thing

July 13, 2012
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Your patent expired earlier this year.  Then, just last week, you found a product that looked eerily similar to the device covered by your patent, and a little checking on the Wayback Machine indicates that this product has been sold for several years.  Fortunately, even though your patent is expired, it’s still enforceable against sales [...]

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