Previous studies have shown a statistically significant increase in the rates of total federal civil litigation as well as bankruptcy and employment litigation following economic downturns. However, no scholars have examined the effects of downturns on patent litigation, a field in which there are widely held competing views among practicing […]
Patents play an ever more integral role in today’s economy, resulting in an increase in patent infringement suits and declaratory judgment actions as patent holders fight to enforce their rights. Nationally, over 2500 patent infringement lawsuits were filed per year in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. […]
In a peer company study, Lex Machina reports on settlement trends for large tech companies, comparing companies' total number of settlements and their likelihood of settlement.
This Article relies on theory and empirical data to propose that the structure and quality of patent litigation, currently riddled with shortcomings, can be improved by harnessing patentography – the geography of patents. […]
This Article disputes three “myths” regarding certainty and uniformity in patent law. […]
A tension exists between opinions of counsel, willful infringement, and the attorney-client privilege. 1 Patent infringement defendants face a vexing decision. Entering into evidence an opinion of counsel declaring noninfringement or invalidity of an asserted patent acts as a strong defense to willfulness. However, asserting this defense requires waiving attorney […]
In the wake of a large rise of patent infringement suit filings in the Eastern District of Texas in recent years, critics have complained that the court is too receptive to such filings and too reluctant to transfer them to other districts. Accusations of forum shopping have been prevalent. However, […]
Nonpracticing entities (NPEs) are firms that rarely or never practice their patents, and instead focus on earning licensing fees. NPEs may have patented inventions on their own or bought the patents from other inventors. NPEs have been the subject of much controversy over the past few years. Critics of these […]
Patent reform has become, perhaps improbably, one of the most contentious issues facing Congress and the courts over the past six years. The fights range across a number of major issues, which not only separate patent owners from patent defendants and those who believe in innovation incentives from those who […]
Fashion is one of the world’s most important creative industries. As the most immediate visible marker of self-presentation, fashion creates vocabularies for self-expression that relate individuals to society. Despite being the core of fashion and legally protected in Europe, fashion design lacks protection against copying under U.S. intellectual property law. […]