Another Patent Infringement Lawsuit: Yahoo vs. Facebook

We learned last week that Yahoo has launched a patent infringement lawsuit against Facebook. Facebook is alleged to have infringed 10 of the more than a thousand patents Yahoo holds. Here is the list of the patents in question and some details.

The 10 patents in question touch on Facebook’s social networking concept, privacy controls, messaging function, advertising model and user customization capabilities. Indeed, nearly every aspect of Facebook as an online service is being challenged. This patent infringement lawsuit is so broad in scope that Yahoo claims that “Facebook’s entire social network model, which allows users to create profiles for and connect with, among other things, persons and businesses, is based on Yahoo!’s patented social networking technology.”

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TIP Conference Day 4: Justice Roger Hughes of the Federal Court

- by Mohamed Hashim

Justice Hughes offered a rare glimpse into the world of patent litigation from the judicial perspective. Titled “A View From The Bench” he spoke of the patent system and what it takes to be successful in the world of patent litigation. To start, he quipped that it takes 4 things to succeed: A good lawyer, good law, good facts and good luck!

The often funny Justice Hughes then went on to talk briefly about the Federal Court and how it deals with patent litigation. He noted that the court has about 6-8 judges that typically handle the patent caseload. He compared this approach to other jurisdictions that have specialized patent courts, and said that our Canadian judges are among the best.

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TIP Conference Day 3: Pharmaceutical Patents

Today was Day 3 of the TIP Conference, which focused on the topic of Pharmaceutical Patents. As today’s panel moderator, Geoff Mowatt from Dimock Stratton noted, the pharmaceutical space is where all the big patent litigation is happening in Canada right now. $22.3 billion is spent annually by Canadians on prescription drugs, of which 58% are patented. The developing case law in this area is therefore very lucrative and high-stakes. This year, about 64% of all Canadian patent litigation will be dedicated to pharmaceuticals alone.

Today’s panel featured three seasoned patent litigators, Don Cameron from Bereskin & Parr LLP, Andrew Shaughnessy from Torys LLP, and Yoon Kang from Smart & Biggar. Read the rest of this entry »

TIP Conference Day 2: Non-Practising Entities

- with Rachel Weiner

The second day of the TIP Conference focused on the controversial and sexy (for patent law) topic of non-practising entities. The public has a tendency to label non-practising entities as patent trolls, and with that label comes a whole consortium of negative connotations. What is a patent troll? The image that appears in most people’s minds is a person who acquires many, many patents and sits in wait, under the bridge, ready to unfairly pounce on anyone who attempts to cross. Read the rest of this entry »

TIP Conference Day 1: Introduction to Patents

Monday, February 13, 2012 saw the launch of this year’s TIP Conference, a student-planned series of lunchtime talks around a specific topic relating to Technology or Intellectual Property. This year, the conference is themed around the topic of patents.

Professor David Vaver started off the session “Introduction to Patents” with a question: “What is a patent?”

After discussing the current concept of a patent—a state-granted exclusive right over the manufacture, use or sale of an invention, to its inventor or the holder of the patent, for a period of 20 years from the date of filing—Professor Vaver launched into an engaging history of the evolution of patents through the the centuries, from their early days, when they were still “letters patent” and protected things like playing cards, to the current state of the law. Read the rest of this entry »

2012 TIP Conference Lineup

The Technology and Intellectual Property Group at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law will be hosting the 2012 TIP Conference this week. The conference will run February 13th to 16th from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM each day in FLB.

This year’s conference focuses on recent developments in patent law, including pharmaceutical patents and non-practicing entities.  We have invited a variety of speakers to discuss these topics – patent litigators, industry representatives, professors who specialize in intellectual property, and even a Federal Court justice.  Whether you’ve wanted to litigate patents since you could walk, you just want to get an idea of what patents are all about, or you want to find out whether you can patent your course summaries, there is something for everyone! Read the rest of this entry »

Apple v Samsung: This Time It’s Global

“The United States district court is a public institution, and the workings of litigation must be open to public view,” Justice Alsup wrote in an October order in Oracle America, Inc v. Google Inc. Yet this is not the approach of U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh and U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal, who have not only granted many of Apple and Samsung’s sealing motions, but in some cases have gone even further. During an October hearing on the proposed injunction, Koh was unprompted when she asked Apple and Samsung if they wanted to seal the courtroom.

This level of secrecy prevents academics, lawyers, and other curious bystanders from the cottage industry of prognosticating the results of the trial. Perhaps the best alternative is to look at the recent decision by the German courts applying EU law in an effort to draw some conclusions that could apply to the American ruling. Read the rest of this entry »

Who Gets Burned When the Dragon Stirs? – Ramifications of Stricter Patent Protection in China

Jameson Berkow in The National Post recently voiced a concern not unfamiliar to those who have seen the cover of any Economist magazine in the past eight years – the dangers of China’s evolving economy, in particular their approach to patent protection.

The article argues that, “China … has intentionally maintained a lax intellectual property enforcement regime for decades, waiting until its internal invention industry had become strong enough to warrant something more robust.” Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft Defends Patent-Licensing Strategy

Amidst the flurry of patent cases among the lot of mobile technology companies, it is difficult to keep track of who is bringing whom to court. In light of the sheer number of cases and their ever growing international scope, even the use of flow charts cannot fully rescue our collectively boggled minds from the convoluted and fast evolving relationships of these entities. On this basis alone, many would say that without a serious overhaul, the patent system risks completely stymieing its objective of fostering innovation – at least in the mobile business where companies appear more preoccupied by legal disputes than research and development.

According to Microsoft Deputy General Counsel Horacio Gutiérrez, however, such legal wrangling is an expected consequence following the introduction of any new and disruptive technology. Read the rest of this entry »

Samsung Breathes Temporary Sigh of Relief in U.S. Patent Battle with Apple

In the latest development in the legal saga between Apple and Samsung, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh tentatively declined to issue a preliminary injunction that would bar some Samsung smartphones and tablets from U.S. sale. In July, Apple had requested the injunction from the Northern District Californian federal court on the basis that Samsung’s Galaxy line of products copies the iPhone and iPad in functions and appearance. Read the rest of this entry »