Claim Vitiation Limitation to the Doctrine of Equivalents May Be Diminishing

6/25/2013 - Claim Vitiation Limitation to the Doctrine of Equivalents May Be Diminishing -- The Fed. Circuit recently interpreted claim vitiation to be “an acknowledgement that each element in the claim must be present in the accused device either literally or equivalently.” It is unclear whether claim vitiation is still a separate standard that can be applied as a defense to the doctrine of equivalents. Claim vitiation remains a question of law for a court to decide (i.e., that “no reasonable jury could determine two elements to be equivalents"), whereas the doctrine of equivalents remains a question of fact for a jury to decide. The Intellectual Property Strategist, Vol. 19, No. 8, May 2013 http://www.lawjournalnewsletters.com/issues/ljn_intproperty/19_8/news/The-Diminishing-Claim-Vitiation-Limitation-to-the-Doctrine-of-Equivalents158115-1.html

Pursuing Injunctive Relief Against Willing Licensee May Constitute Abusive Conduct

5/13/2013 - Pursuit of injunctive relief against a willing licensee may constitute abusive conduct. A Statement of Objections (SO) issued by the European Commission after Samsung sought injunctions against Apple indicated that the Samsung's pursuit of injunctive relief against Apple, a willing licensee, was abusive conduct. Samsung withdrew it's European SEP-based injunctions against Apple a few days before the SO was issued. (FOSS Patents)

Patent Ownership Divisible During Marriage Dissolution

5/11/2013 - Patent ownership can be divided during marriage dissolution. A Florida court found that a patent issued to Mr. Taylor during marriage to Mrs. Taylor was a marital asset that was divided during a Divorce Settlement. Because Mrs. Taylor obtained legal title to the patent, Mr. Taylor had no standing to sue for infringement under the patent because Mrs. Taylor refused to participate in the suit (all co-owners must be joined as co-plaintiffs). (PatentlyO)

#litigation #arbitration