Jun
13
Red Hat settles JBoss Hibernate patent suit
Posted by Dirk Avery at 3:52 pm under Litigation, Patent.
Forget your worries about using JBoss Hibernate. Users worldwide now have a royalty-free, irrevocable license to use the technology. Apparently, some portions of the technology were covered by U.S. Patent No. 6,101,502. From InternetNews:
Legal eagles on staff with Red Hat are a busy group these days. The Linux distribution leader just announced […]
Apr
7
Do professors have copyright in their lectures?
Posted by Irene Soto at 7:15 am under Copyright, Litigation.
A textbook publisher, Faulkner Press, sued Class Notes (dba Einstein’s Notes), a student note-taking service at the University of Florida, for copyright infringement.
Faulkner sells textbooks and CDs used to submit assignments and quizzes. These materials are required for the courses in which they are available. Class Notes hires students to take notes during lectures and […]
Apr
4
9th Circuit says CDA does not shelter Roommates.com
Posted by Irene Soto at 9:14 am under Internet, Litigation.
Big loss for Roommates.com, internet forums, and ISPs yesterday.
[Background: The touchstone of § 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) is that providers of internet computer services are immune from liability for content created by third parties. The immunity applies to a defendant who is the “provider… of an internet computer service” and is being sued […]
Apr
2
The new Acacia business model
Posted by Dirk Avery at 10:09 am under Litigation, Patent.
Back in 1993, Acacia began business as a venture capital firm. After the dot-com bust, it changed business models and began managing intellectual property for small entities without the resources to effectively capitalize IP assets. According to Forbes’s Maurna Desmond most of Acacia’s deals with patent owners involve a 50/50 revenue split.
Recently shares […]
Apr
2
Practitioners respond to rejection of new rules
Posted by Dirk Avery at 9:36 am under Litigation, Patent.
Yesterday Judge Cacheris rejected the PTO’s attempt to make substantive changes to its rules, as Irene noted. The Reporter’s Zusha Elinson writes today about the decision and responses from several patent practitioners.
“There’s a lot of good cheer going around,” said Hans Troesch, a veteran patent prosecutor with Fish & Richardson in Redwood City, […]
Apr
1
Finally: Tafas/GSK v. Dudas Decision
Posted by Irene Soto at 12:22 pm under Litigation, Patent.
Judge Cacheris has come to a decision: SJ granted for GSK/Tafas; SJ denied for PTO.
Opinion available here.
As I thought earlier, the court only addressed whether the rules were substantive or procedural and, finding them substantive, leaves the numerous other issues for another day.
“The Court believes that one who judges least judges best.” With respect to […]
Mar
29
A Superman Custody Dispute
Posted by Irene Soto at 11:12 am under Copyright, Litigation.
The New York Times shares a story today about an important lesson on copyright termination rights. The point: “to have and hold forever” does not always really mean forever.
“Time Warner is no longer the sole proprietor of Superman. A federal judge here on Wednesday ruled that the heirs of Jerome Siegel — who 70 years […]
Mar
28
MBA Students to Solve the PTO’s Backlog Problem?
Posted by Irene Soto at 1:58 pm under Events, Litigation, Patent.
Earlier this week, the USPTO announced that it would be partnering with the George Washington University School of Business in a competition to find solutions to “the pressing issues of patent pendency and backlog at the USPTO.”
According to the press release, Margaret Peterlin, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of […]
Mar
27
The messy Rambus affair
Posted by Dirk Avery at 9:55 am under Litigation, Patent, Technology.
While the Gibson/Guitar Hero/Rock Band war rages on, chip designer Rambus has won a major battle in its war against chip makers.
Rambus, which designs memory chips and chips for Sony’s Playstation, won a jury verdict in the Northern District of California in a suit brought by Hynix, the world’s second largest chip maker, Micron and […]
Mar
26
Patently new: MSFT, Apple and ADI
Posted by Dirk Avery at 10:06 am under Litigation, Patent.
Microsoft changes its tone relative to Open Source
Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith spoke at the Open Source Business Conference attempting to reconcile differences between the software giant and the open source community. CNET’s Charles Cooper reports:
“We believe in the importance of building a bridge that makes it possible for different parts of the industry […]