Patent | Stone Law, P.C.

Motivation to Combine Unnecessary Under Section 103 if Secondary Reference Does Not Supply Element or Teaching

January 21, 2019

On January 10, the Federal Circuit issued an opinion affirming a decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) invalidating several claims of U.S. Patent No. 6,597,812 (the ‘812…

Supreme Court Weighs Meaning of ‘Full Costs’ in Rimini Street v. Oracle USA Oral Arguments

January 20, 2019

Stone Law, P.C.

On the morning of January 14th, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Rimini Street v. Oracle USA, a case that asks the nation’s highest court to decide whether…

How Can I Sell an Idea for Profit? Unlocking the Idea-Invention Dichotomy

January 19, 2019

Stone Law, P.C.

Patent

Selling an idea and waiting for lottery-like winnings to arrive at your doorstep seems to be the American dream. It is certainly the dream of every inventor, and it is…

Smells Like Trademark Infringement: Nirvana Sues Over Smiley Face Logo

January 18, 2019

Stone Law, P.C.

On December 28, 2018, the limited liability company representing famed Seattle-area grunge rock band Nirvana sued clothing designer Marc Jacobs and fashion retailers Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue in…

INTA Brief to WTO Revives Plain Packaging Debate

January 17, 2019

Stone Law, P.C.

Patent, Trademark

Australia’s Tobacco Plain Packaging Act (TPPA) was enacted in 2011 and prohibits all use of trademarks (other than word marks) on tobacco product packaging. The law seemingly created a domino…

Sherry Knowles Scrutinizes an Activist Supreme Court and its Unconstitutional Approach to Patent Eligibility

January 16, 2019

Stone Law, P.C.

Patent

The Supreme Court has brazenly admitted it is not following Congress’ statutory instructions on patent eligibility in several cases. And it has carried out virtually none of the required statutory…

In Pursuit of the Hardest, Riskiest and Most Valuable Innovation

January 15, 2019

Stone Law, P.C.

Patent

As IBM was preparing to announce yet another milestone achievement, this year receiving 9,100 U.S. patents in 2018, I had the opportunity to sit down for an on the record…

Fine Tuning the Trump Administration’s ROI Initiative

January 14, 2019

Stone Law, P.C.

Business, Patent

The Trump Administration’s Return on Investment (ROI) Initiative, which is geared toward increasing the American taxpayer’s benefits from federally-supported R&D, is potentially a big step forward. The draft recommendations were…

Limiting Section 325(d) Delegation Will Ensure a More Predictable Inter Partes Review Process

January 13, 2019

Stone Law, P.C.

Business, Patent

Congress created Inter Partes Review (IPR) to weed out clearly invalid patents that would not have been issued had the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) known about certain…

PTAB Grants Additional Briefing to Consider the Impact of USPTO’s Revised 101 Guidance

January 12, 2019

Stone Law, P.C.

Patent

The PTAB not only assented to Mirror Imaging’s suggestion that a five-page brief be entered in advance of the hearing but added that parties may submit one brief for each…