The anti-joinder provision of the America Invents Act - about which we've written in a recent blog entry and a Patent Infringement News story - is expected to have a chilling effect on litigation brought by so-called "patent trolls." That's because instead of suing several defendants at once, patent owners must file a separate lawsuit for each individual infringer.
October 31, 2011 - Eight new patent lawsuits were filed against Amazon.com in early September - and the proximity of the filings was partly a result of the America Invents Act (AIA) and its "anti-joinder" provision.
October 30, 2011 - Brian Hanna and Michael Nolan were sales managers with Groupon, the world's largest online coupon site, until about a month ago. Then they left the company and went to work for Google Offers - where, Groupon alleges, they took valuable trade secrets from their former employer.
October 29, 2011 - Verizon has been ordered to post a $145 million bond while it appeals the verdict in its lawsuit with a small tech company.
It's becoming increasingly obvious that the business model of Righthaven LLC was, in fact, very wrong - evidenced by the fact that it has been ordered to pay nearly $120,000 in attorney fees and court costs to the defendant in one of its failed copyright infringement suits.
Attorney-client privilege can only go so far to protect you against the airing of potentially damaging communications in court. That's what Google learned this month when a judge allowed Oracle to use a Google engineer's unsent email message as evidence in their patent infringement lawsuit, which began with Oracle suing Google in August 2010 for allegedly infringing its patents on the Java programming language in the Android mobile operating system.
An International Trade Commission judge ruled that Apple did not infringe four of HTC's patents, and GPC's Alexander Poltorak says the similarity between the laws in the ITC and U.S. federal court mean that the ITC ruling may have a profound impact on the two companies' litigation ("ITC Ruling Pushes HTC Onto Thin Ice in Apple Patent Brawl", TechNewsWorld.com, October 18, 2011).
October 17, 2011 - Eastman Kodak Company announced that it licensed about 100 patents related to laser projection to IMAX Corporation. The licensing deal, worth about $50 million in upfront fees and additional royalties, will help Kodak raise cash in an attempt to improve its financial condition.
October 17, 2011 - Eastman Kodak Company announced that it licensed about 100 patents related to laser projection to IMAX Corporation. The licensing deal, worth about $50 million in upfront fees and additional royalties, will help Kodak raise cash in an attempt to improve its financial condition.
HTC lost its patent infringement lawsuit against Apple last week when an International Trade Commission judge ruled that Apple did not infringe four of HTC's patents. HTC plans to appeal the ruling, but patent experts - including GPC's Alex Poltorak - predict the ITC ruling will only make it more difficult to prevail against Apple in U.S. Federal court. ("Ouch Android: HTC Bruised, Apple Win AGAIN", ChannelNews.com.au, October 18, 2011)
October 17, 2011 - Lucent-Alcatel sued online retailers Newegg Inc. and Overstock.com, Inc. (O.co) for infringing three patents related to e-commerce functionalities that are used by almost every e-commerce website. However, Newegg and Overstock enjoyed unexpected success when a federal jury in the U.S.
Eastman Kodak's digital imaging patents could be worth more than the company itself, according to a recent article ("Apple, Google, RIMM: Kodak's Patent Buyers?", TheStreet.com, October 10, 2011).
In the article, GPC's Alexander Poltorak comments on the patents' potential value - and who the most likely buyers may be.
On our Patent Infringement News page, we recently reported on a company called Innovatio IP Ventures, LLC which has filed several patent lawsuits against hotels and restaurants that provide free Wi-Fi for their customers. But as it turns out, Innovatio's patent enforcement campaign may fall victim to provisions in the America Invents Act (AIA).
October 4, 2011 - In a new twist for the mobile electronics industry, Apple has refused to talk patent licensing with its competitor, Samsung - and will thus block the launch of Samsung's Galaxy Tab mobile computing device in Australia.
Samsung's Galaxy products have been found to infringe Apple's patents. Normally, that would mean that Samsung could take a license under the patents and continue to do business.
You can say what you want about the U.S. patent system and its laws concerning infringement, but it'll cost you - that is, if you're the CEO of a company found liable for patent infringement. (Mondis Technology Ltd v. Chimei InnoLux Corporation et al)