UK Patents Court Holds Software Patents May Be Enforceable By Sarah Sorscher — Edited by Wen Bu In re Astron Clinica, High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, Patents Court (EWHC (Pat)), January 25, 2008, Case No. CH/2007/APP/0466 Opinion On January 25, the United Kingdom High Court ruled that the U.K. Intellectual Property Office (IPO) cannot categorically reject patent claims for computer programs under Section 1(2) of the Patents Act of 1977 (designed to implement Article 52 of the European Patent ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Holds Patent Unenforceable Following Patentee’s Failure to Disclose Material Notes By Michelle Yang — Edited by Wen Bu Monsanto Corp. v. Bayer Bioscience N.V. Federal Circuit, January 25, 2008, No. 2007-1109 Slip Opinion On January 25, the Federal Circuit affirmed the District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri’s holdings: 1) that Bayer’s patent for certain chimeric genes was unenforceable for inequitable conduct, and 2) that the district court had jurisdiction to declare three related patents unenforceable. The ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Decides to Rehear Important Design Patent Case En Banc By Andrew Ungberg – Edited by Wen Bu Egyptian Goddess, Inc., v. Swisa, Inc. Federal Circuit, November 26, 2007, No. 2006-1562 Order Update: On September 22, 2008, the en banc Federal Circuit affirmed the decision of the District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which had granted summary judgment in favor of Swisa, Inc, finding that no jury could reasonably find Swisa’s nail-buffer design infringed Egyptian Goddess’s design patent. ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Clarifies Rule on Completeness of Patents in a Sequence By Sarah Sorscher — Edited by Johnathan Jenkins Zenon Environmental, Inc. v. United States Filter Corp. Federal Circuit, November 7, 2007, No. 2006-1266 Slip Opinion On November 7, the Federal Circuit reversed the District Court of the Southern District of California, which had found Zenon’s patent for a water filtration device not invalid by reason of anticipation in a bench trial. The Federal Circuit held that, because an intervening ... Read More...

House Passes Major Patent Reform Bill By David Lawson — Edited by Wen Bu H.R. 1908 Full Text with Comments CRS Bill Summary Details of the Vote On September 7, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1908, a major patent reform bill, by a vote of 220-175. The bill is now on the Senate legislative calendar awaiting action. The Washington Post identifies the players and summarizes the debate. Peter Zura’s 271 Patent Blog focuses on the late amendments that ... Read More...