Articles

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Avoid a royalty mess by reviewing your patent license

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Quanta Computer v. LG Electronics left LG stuck in “a royalty mess” that should inspire local businesses to review their patent licenses. More specifically, the decision raises important questions about the extent to which-and the cir cumstances under which-patent owners can collect royalties from more than one party in the distribution chain. Although the case arose out of the IT industry, its lessons could significantly impact Indiana life sciences companies. Collecting downstream In…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Life sciences patents still alive after Supreme decision

In late April, the U.S. Supreme Court decided an important case-KSR International v. Teleflex Inc.-that addressed the test for determining whether a patent is obvious and therefore invalid. As is often the case, the court’s opinion set off considerable speculation about how broadly it should be interpreted: Does it establish a broad, general principle? Is it creating a trend that patents are more likely to be found obvious in the future? Or is its significance limited to the patent in…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Patent trolls drawing attention of courts, government

Almost $3.5 billion: That, according to a recent IP Law 360 estimate, is the amount of judgments and settlements in intellectual property disputes in 2006. Equally remarkable, that amount was “markedly” down from the comparable figure for 2005. A recent article by Bloomberg News stated that juries awarded $1 billion in patent infringement damages in 2006. With that kind of money changing hands, it is not surprising that companies, known critically as “patent trolls,” have been formed to acquire patent…

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