Intellectual Property

DOJ Support Of SEP Injunctions Should Stabilize Licensing

The U.S. Department of Justice's recent letter to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which explicitly supports standard-essential patent owners in their pursuit of injunctive relief and favors a diminished role for antitrust enforcement in intellectual property disputes, bodes well for rebalancing the licensing market, say attorneys at Mintz.

A Road Map For Drafting Persuasive Discovery Motions

Best practices that can help litigators write convincing discovery motions include thinking about the audience, addressing a few key questions, and leaving out boilerplate from supporting briefs, says Tom Connally at Hogan Lovells.

How Congress Can Depoliticize The Supreme Court

Congress has multiple means to take the politics out of federal judicial nominations and restore the independence of the U.S. Supreme Court — three of which can be implemented without a constitutional amendment, says Franklin Amanat at DiCello Levitt.

Lessons From An In-Court Jury Trial During The Pandemic

Following a recent in-person jury trial at the Indiana Supreme Court, Angela Hall and Jason Rauch at Faegre Drinker offer takeaways on remote trial preparation, socially distanced voir dire and evidence presentation during the COVID-19 era.

Balancing Newly Divergent State, USPTO Ethics Rules

In light of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's stringent ethics rules and failure to adopt a choice-of-law rule, intellectual property attorneys practicing in states that recently adopted more progressive ethics rules may have to modify their practice to avoid discipline, say attorneys Emil Ali and Michael McCabe.

And Now A Word From The Panel: Justifying An MDL

Recent oral arguments before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in the Ahern Rentals trade secret case demonstrate that justifying centralization of related actions into an MDL hinges on showing similarities between the actions — and especially on whether they will lead to common discovery, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

Opinion

The Case For A Nonpolitical Federal Judiciary

For the last 20 years, at the insistence of both parties, U.S. Supreme Court nominations have been fierce ideological battles — which is bad for the country and bad for the public's perception of the legitimacy of the court, say Judge Eric Moyé, Judge Craig Smith and Winston & Strawn partner Tom Melsheimer.

Overlooked Patent Cases: Lessons On Section 101 Motions

As motions to dismiss based on patent eligibility under Section 101 are on the rise, recent, lesser known federal district court decisions offer several drafting insights for patent owners facing eligibility attacks at the pleadings stage, particularly in the high-tech space, say attorneys at Akin Gump.

The Keys To A Better Privilege Logging Paradigm

Current privilege logging practices to identify what information is being withheld from discovery often lead to costly disputes, so practitioners should adopt a system based on trust and good faith, similar to the presumptions embedded in the business judgment rule for corporate directors and officers, say Kevin Brady at Volkswagen and Charles Ragan and Ted Hiser at Redgrave.

Opinion

RBG's Legacy Can Guide High Court In Oracle Copyright Case

While Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's scholarship and acumen will no doubt be missed by her colleagues, her intellectual property jurisprudence will guide them in the upcoming, straightforward copyright case Google v. Oracle, which shouldn't be influenced by political leanings, says Sandra Aistars at the Antonin Scalia Law School.

UK Top Court Ruling May Be Problematic For Global SEP Suits

There are several reasons to question the wisdom of the U.K. Supreme Court's recent ruling that English judges have the power to set extraterritorial licensing royalty rates for standard-essential patents, including that it encourages forum shopping, says Thomas Cotter at the University of Minnesota Law School.

White House Due Process Memo Could Reform Enforcement

A little-noticed memo recently issued by the Trump administration in response to the pandemic, directing federal agencies to provide greater due process to individuals and companies under regulatory investigation, represents a long-overdue sea change in the way justice is carried out in enforcement proceedings, say Joan Meyer and Norman Bloch at Thompson Hine.

Law Firm Hiring Considerations In A COVID-19 Economy

Financially robust law firms are entering the recruiting market aggressively knowing that dislocations like the COVID-19 crisis present rare competitive opportunities, and firms that remain on the sidelines when it comes to strategic hiring will be especially vulnerable to having their best talent poached, says Brian Burlant at Major Lindsey.

How Pharma Cos. Can Evaluate Alliance Agreements' Validity

Alliance agreements can help pharmaceutical companies collaborate and resolve patent infringement disputes, especially during these uncertain pandemic times, but may draw questions concerning legitimacy if not properly vetted, say Louis Berneman at Texelerate, and Alan White and Anne Catherine Faye at Analysis Group.

PTAB Factors For Instituting IPR: What The Stats Show

Statistical analysis of 24 Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions applying the factors for denying inter partes review, derived from the recent Apple v. Fintiv and NHK v. Intri-Plex rulings, reveals determinative factors that parties may choose to emphasize for a greater chance of institution, say Brenton Babcock and Tyler Train at Womble Bond.