Comments for Intellectual Property Directions

Comment on In the Rear View Mirror - the Reverse Doctrine of Equivalents by Bookmarks about Reverse

Bookmarks about Reverse — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:45:11 +0000

[...] - bookmarked by 5 members originally found by charlesrequina on 2008-10-23 In the rear view mirror - the reverse doctrine of equivalents [...]

Comment on What’s Your Opinion On Opinions? by Bruce

Bruce — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:13:16 +0000

This is not a question of doing a prior art search to see if you can get a patent on an invention of yours. Instead it is a question of how do you protect yourself from possible treble damages if it turns out you are infringing on someone’s patent.

Prior to this court decision, if you came across a patent that was anywhere near your product, the rules of the game essentially required you to get an expensive opinion from your attorney. This opinion didn’t save you from losing the infringement suit but it helped ward of the extra costs of being found willful in your infringement. (obviously only helpful if you got the opinion before starting the infringing activity)

This decision changes things in that is says you can’t be willfully infringing if there is a non-trivial argument to say you were not infringing. So if your attorney can come up with grounds for a reasonable defense, you should be able to avoid the whole willfulness penalty.

Comment on What’s Your Opinion On Opinions? by highimpact IP

highimpact IP — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:44:59 +0000

This all sounds like a business mindset with little creativity trying to play the legal game. Coming from the creative side, you start out with an idea that seems novel. You do the BEST prior art search you can do. If it comes up clear, you move ahead. If it comes up with potential conflicts, you INVENT around them. When you prepare the patent, you list every one of them and discuss the conflicts that were found and how the patent submission improves on them. In the end, you case is stronger all the way around.