Google-Motorola Deal: the Patent Portfolio Factor

So we’ve all heard how Google recently bought Motorola for a hefty $12.5 billion on Monday. Aside from the synergies Google gains from end-to-end control, as Google now has hardware, software and service arms to create their mobile products, perhaps just as importantly, Google has also purchased one of the largest patent portfolios of its kind in the mobile industry. Read the rest of this entry »

Patent Troll Lawyer’s Turn to Pay-Up

We have all heard stories of abusive or extortion-like practices by patent trolls and how they can strike fear in the hearts of independent, start-up companies. But in a refreshing twist, Techdirt recently posted a story about how a patent troll’s lawyer was sanctioned by the Court. In Eon-Net v. Flagstar Bancorp, not only did the U.S.’ Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit hold for the alleged patent infringer, they also approved of over $600,000 in sanctions again Eon-Net’s lawyer for filing a spurious lawsuit. Read the rest of this entry »

Patent Troll on Steroids: How America’s Patent System May Hurt Innovation

This American Life (TAL) is running a story this week that is well worth tuning in for. Some may have heard of Nathan Myhrvold during his time as IBM’s chief strategist and chief of technology or from his $600, six-volume cookbook. But few outside IT circles would know of his “innovative invention company” Intellectual Ventures, and how it is regarded by many in the field as the leader of patent trolls, having amassed roughly 35,000 patents since its inception in 2000. Read the rest of this entry »

Pfizer v. Ratiopharm: Invalid Patent Insufficient to Support Back-Claim Compensation

Generic drug companies have suffered a setback in the fight to claim compensation when they have been incorrectly kept off the market. The Federal Court of Appeal has refused to overturn a prohibition order against Ratiopharm, thereby disallowing Ratiopharm’s compensation claim, in spite of the fact that Pfizer’s patent is invalid.

Pfizer was initially successful in preventing the invalidation their Patent No. 1,321,393 (‘393 Patent) under the NOC Regulations. Then in 2006, Ratiopharm had another go at Patent ’393 and it was subsequently found that Pfizer had wilfully relied on fraudulent material in support of their patent. This allowed Ratiopharm to then market its generic version of Pfizer’s drug NORVASC. Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Amazon’s “one-click purchasing” Patent Battle

The official blog of Search Engine by Jesse Brown recently featured a very informative podcast discussing the implications of Amazon’s 13-year “one click” ordering system patent dispute in Canada, which can potentially be concluded very soon. Amazon has held this patent in the U.S. for many years now, but here in Canada, Amazon was denied the patent in 2009. Amazon appealed the decision, of course, and the case has made its way before the Federal Court of Appeal with the hearing held on Tuesday. Read the rest of this entry »

Nokia and Apple’s Patent Dispute Settled

Two of the world’s largest mobile giants, Nokia and Apple, have finally ended a lengthy legal battle on Tuesday by entering into a patent-license settlement covering all their patent disputes. If one party is to be declared the “winner”, it would likely be Nokia as Apple will be making a one-time payment to Nokia and pay continuing royalties for the term of the agreement. The specific financial terms have not been released. Read the rest of this entry »

Why Microsoft v. i4i Won’t Influence Canadian Law

According to Norman Siebrasse, a law professor at the University of New Brunswick, the recent Microsoft v. i4i case was a great victory for a Canadian company and affirmed America’s long-standing standard that a patent’s invalidity claim must be proven by “clear and convincing evidence.” He also suggests, however, that the i4i decision is unlikely to be influential in Canadian patent law for three reasons: the statute is different, the precedent is different, and the USSC expressly did not consider policy arguments.

His full post can be found here.

Standard of Patent Validity: Microsoft v. i4i Limited Partnership

How hard should it be to convince a court that a patent is invalid when relevant evidence was not available to the (U.S.) Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) when it issued the patent?

That was the central question before the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark Microsoft v. i4i Limited Partnership case decided on Thursday. Canadian software company i4i Inc. won a patent battle against tech giant Microsoft Corp. after the High Court upheld a Federal Circuit judgement resulting in Microsoft paying i4i $290 million (U.S.) for patent infringement. The patent under dispute involves technology, html markup language, used in Microsoft Word which gave Word 2003 and Word 2007 users an better way to edit XML. Initially, Microsoft argued that the patent i4i is relying on is invalid because of prior art. Read the rest of this entry »

Ten Patented Gestures

io9.com recently compiled a list of ten physical gestures that tech companies have claimed. Ever flicked your pen at a computer screen or shook your phone in frustration? Designing a product using either of those movements may require the maker to license that gesture from either Microsoft or Intellectual Ventures. Apparently, tech companies have been patenting physical gestures for almost twenty years now. With the explosion of touchscreens, Kinect, and other movement-based video games, it is no wonder businesses are increasingly staking such claims. Get the list here.

Canada’s Pharmaceutical IP Laws Stronger Than You Think

As globalization shrinks our world, new connections are being made in unexpected areas. One such connection is a proposed trade agreement between Canada and the European Union that could have substantial implications on the domestic costs of pharmaceutical drugs if passed. As part of the the trade negotiations, the E.U. has proposed changes to Canada’s drug patent system, which could potentially add billions to Canada’s prescription drug plan per year, an area where Canadians already spend spend $22 billion annually. Read the rest of this entry »