Lawyer Violates Telephone Consumer Protection Act with Outsourced Newsletters By Ian B. Brooks – Edited by Jad Mills Holtzman v. Turza, No. 08-C-2014 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 3, 2010) Opinion hosted by Google The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that a lawyer makes unsolicited advertisements under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) when his primary purpose for hiring a company to distribute his materials via facsimile was to advertise his services.  Granting the plaintiff’s summary ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment Finding Non-Infringement By Leocadie Welling – Edited by Jad Mills Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, Inc. v. Maersk Contractors USA, Inc., No. 2009-1556 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 18, 2010) Slip Opinion On August 18, 2010, the Federal Circuit reversed in part, affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded the decision of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, which had granted summary judgment in favor of Maersk on issues of invalidity and ... Read More...

By Ian B. Brooks Lexmark Sues 24 Companies for Patent Infringement CNET reports that Lexmark is once again attempting to stop sales of aftermarket printer cartridges. In its latest attempt, Lexmark has filed suit against 24 companies in the International Trade Commission and a U.S. district court alleging infringement of at least 15 patents related to laser printer technology. In its ITC complaint, Lexmark seeks the exclusion of imported goods that infringe the company’s patents. The district court case seeks ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Reverses Noninfringement Declaratory Judgment, Dissent Takes on Gene Patentability By Chinh Vo – Edited by Anthony Kammer Intervet Inc. v. Merial Ltd., No. 2009-1568 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 4, 2010) Slip Opinion On August 4, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed and remanded the declaratory judgment of the United States District Court of the District of Columbia, which held that Intervet’s Porcine Circovirus vaccine (“PCV-2”) did not infringe Merial’s gene patent. The majority ... Read More...

Federal Circuit affirms collaboration is insufficient basis for joint infringement; partial disclosure can form basis for inequitable conduct By Leocadie Welling – Edited by Anthony Kammer Golden Hour Data System, Inc. v. emsCharts, Inc., No. 2009-1306, 1396 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 9, 2010) Slip Opinion On August 9, 2010, the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, holding that emsCharts and Softtech had not jointly infringed Golden Hour’s patent for managing ... Read More...