Apple and Samsung have spent seven years battling through the US courts in a series of patent infringement cases relating to smartphone features. They have taken their dispute all the way to the US Supreme Court. The total amount of damages awarded along the way has been eye-watering. It was announced yesterday that the two parties have finally reached a settlement. In my experience, when a patent owner is disgruntled by what they perceive to be the infringing activities of a competitor, all...
The annual IP5 heads of office meeting was held on 14 June 2018, in New Orleans USA, in which the five largest patent offices (IP5) met to discuss ongoing inter-office cooperation to improve and harmonize worldwide standards of patent examination. The participating offices were the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the European Patent Office (EPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) and the State Intellectual Property Office of the...
It took 228 years, but the USPTO recently granted its 10,000,000th patent. From the making of pot ash and pearl ash (US Patent No. 1) to Coherent Ladar Using Intra-Pixel Quadrature Detection (US Patent No. 10,000,000) the grant of patents mirrors the development of science and technology. When looking back at the history of US patents one of the first things that stands out is the growth it patent filings. There was over 120 years between the grant of the 1st on 31 July 1790 and the...
I'm often asked by clients, "When will my patent application publish?" Whilst the correct answer is "on or just after 18 months from the earliest priority date," this does not provide a specific date. This is because each patent office has their own publication schedule. For example, the UK Intellectual Property Office provides an advanced written warning of the publication date, which is usually a Wednesday. The European Patent Office also provides an advanced warning and also publishes...
The USPTO has recently published a memo for its Examiners following the Federal Circuit’s decision in Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. v West-Ward Pharmaceuticals. This memo highlights the patent eligibility of Vanda’s method of treatment claim. The decision and associated guidance marks a significant step forward for personalized medicine patenting in the US. Those working in the sector should feel hopeful that we are moving on from Mayo*. The US Supreme Court’s Mayo decision was handed down in...
