The Copyright Act (‘‘Act’’) provides that the Register of Copyrights may adjust certain fees based upon a study of the costs incurred by the Copyright Office (“Office”) for the registration of claims, the recordation of documents, and the provision of services. 17 U.S.C. 708(b). More...
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice have charged seven former Siemens executives with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for their involvement in the company's decade-long bribery scheme to retain a $1 billion government contract to produce national identity cards for Argentine citizens. More...
The United States Copyright Office seeks comments on proposals to exempt certain classes of works from the prohibition on circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. More...
The Copyright Office periodically seeks to update its list of specialty stations related to the use of the cable compulsory license. Specialty station status is determined by reference to the former regulations of the Federal Communications Commission in effect on June 24, 1981, which defined a specialty station as "a commercial television broadcast station that generally carries foreign-language, religious, and/or automated programming in one-third of the hours of an average broadcast week and one-third of the weekly prime-time hours." More...
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a father and son in Utah with securities fraud for selling purported investments in their real estate business that turned out to be nothing more than a wide-scale $220 million Ponzi scheme. More...
Following are Resources Law Commentaries elaborating on the significance of the most important of the Resources Law Summaries.
Commentary: A divided Federal Circuit tightened the requirements on parties using an inequitable conduct defense in patent prosecutions. In Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson, and Co., 649 F.3d 1276 (Fed. Cir. 2011), the Federal Circuit threw out the previous understanding of inequitable conduct, remarking that the broadness of its elements invited abuse of inequitable conduct in litigation and flooded the PTO with needless references in patent applications. As a replacement, the majority held that inequitable conduct now requires a party to separately prove specific intent and but-for materiality. More...
Commentary: The United States patent regime will be undergoing fundamental changes over the next 18 months with the ratification of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. While a majority of recent coverage has been focused on the new first-to-file provision, patent holders, litigants, and inventors in all fields must be aware of several other changes that affect one’s ability to protect and litigate patents down the line. More...
Commentary: The Federal Circuit recently expanded the analysis of a patent process claim beyond the “machine or transformation” test. In Cybersource Corp., v. Retail Decisions, Inc., No. 2009-1358, 2011 U.S. App. WL 3584472, (Fed. Cir. Aug. 16, 2011), the Federal Circuit not only upheld the use of the machine or transformation test, but also analyzed the claims under three categorical exceptions to eligibility in light of a recent Supreme Court holding expanding process claim analysis beyond the test. More...
Commentary: The Federal Circuit recently vacated a 35 U.S.C.A. § 285 fee award because it found that the defendant continued to have a reasonable basis to continue its patent prosecution in light of a potentially damning admission pointing to anticipation. In Old Reliable Wholesale, Inc., v. Cornell Corp., 635 F.3d 539 (Fed. Cir. 2011), the Federal Circuit minimized the district court’s interpretation of plaintiff’s testimony as an admission that a competitor’s product anticipated its patent. Moreover, the Court found the plaintiff had several reasonable arguments on which to maintain its case, and thus the case was not “objectively baseless” as is demanded by § 285. More...
Commentary: An en banc panel of the Federal Circuit recently modified contempt examinations in patent infringement injunction cases. In Tivo, Inc. v. Echostar Corp., No. 2009-1374, 2011 U.S. App. WL 1486162, (Fed. Cir. Apr. 20, 2011), the Federal Circuit consolidated the two-part KSM test into a single-step inquiry, focusing on the colorable differences between the infringing product and the new, modified product instead of whether the modified product continues to infringe on the patent. Further, the Court warned parties against acting on ambiguously worded injunctions, noting that parties should seek clarification instead of taking unilateral action and foreclosing themselves of appeal. More...
