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Welcome to the Snell & Wilmer intellectual property and technology litigation blog! Check here for useful news and information about patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and other IP and technology litigation developments.
Our IP & Technology Litigation Attorneys:
Federal Circuit Holds Tribal Immunity Does Not Bar IPR of Tribe-Owned Patents
By Tyler J. Fortner and David G. Barker Last week, the Federal Circuit held that tribal sovereign immunity does not apply to inter partes review (IPR) actions instituted at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The decision, in Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe et al. v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., comes approximately a month and a half after a Federal Circuit panel heard the issue (see here). The decision opens the door for generic drug manufacturers (including Mylan) and others to challenge the validity of patents owned by Native American tribes that enjoy sovereign immunity. During oral argument, Allergan and the Mohawk Tribe Read More »
Posted in Inter Partes Review, IP and Technology Litigation, Patent Litigation
| Tagged Federal Circuit
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Supreme Court Opens the Door to Recovering Lost Foreign Profits in Patent Cases
By Peter R. Montecuollo and David G. Barker In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States has opened the door for patent owners to recover lost foreign profits under §§ 284 and 271(f)(2) of the Patent Act. Although the Court’s decision in WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp. represents a marked shift from the lost-foreign-profits calculus courts applied previously, it does not create an automatic right to recover lost foreign profits. Instead, the Court supplanted the Federal Circuit’s rigid prohibition against recovering lost foreign sales (see Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor Int’l, Inc.) with a case-by-case Read More »
Posted in IP and Technology Litigation, Patent Litigation
| Tagged Federal Circuit, Lost Foreign Profits, patent, Supreme Court
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Federal Circuit Considers Possible Tribal Immunity from Inter Partes Review
By Daniel S. Ivie and David G. Barker Last week, a Federal Circuit panel considered whether transferring patents to a tribal nation invoked the tribe’s sovereign immunity precluding inter partes review. The panel heard oral argument in Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe et al. v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. et al., which concerns an appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s recent decision that the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s sovereign immunity did not shield it from inter partes review. In late 2017, pharmaceutical company Allergan transferred the patents for its dry-eye medication Restasis to the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. Allergan paid Read More »
Supreme Court Uproots Current PTAB Practice by Quashing Partial Decisions
By Trisha Farmer Lau and David G. Barker On April 24, 2018, in SAS Institute, Inc. v. Iancu, the Supreme Court held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) must decide the validity of every patent claim challenged when it undertakes inter partes review under the America Invents Act (“AIA”). In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled in favor of SAS Institute, Inc., a software developer that filed an inter partes review petition and argued that the PTAB’s final decision must address all challenged claims in the petition. Before this decision, a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office regulation, 37 Read More »
Posted in Inter Partes Review, IP and Technology Litigation, Patent Litigation
| Tagged inter partes review, IPR, patent, PTAB, Supreme Court
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Supreme Court Confirms Inter Partes Review Is Constitutional
By Jacob C. Jones and David G. Barker In Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC, the United States Supreme Court held today, in a 7-2 decision, that the inter partes review process under the America Invents Act (AIA), 35 U.S.C. § 100 et seq. (2011), does not violate Article III or the Seventh Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. As we noted previously, inter partes review is a popular administrative proceeding where the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB; part of the United States Patent and Trademark Office) decides whether challenged patents are valid. As of March Read More »
Posted in Inter Partes Review, IP and Technology Litigation, Patent Litigation, Post Grant Proceedings
| Tagged Federal Circuit, inter partes review, IPR, Oil States, patent, PTAB, Supreme Court
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