IP Memes

August 16, 2004 on 3:30 pm | In Articles |

My latest IP Memes issue came out today.  For those of you who don’t know what IP Memes is, it is a weekly newsletter (written by myself, Dennis Kennedy, Denise Howell, Gail Standish, and Kurt Calia) that consists of technology-related intellectual property “memes” — IP issues that have just begun to surface and may soon become important legal issues.  IP Memes enables corporate counsel, intellectual property lawyers, and interested others to learn about and react to new developments in intellectual property law.  It is free, to join TechnoLawyer see:  www.technolawyer.com.  See my about page if you want to see a PDF.

IP Memes: The X (Patent) Files — and Other Hot IP Issues
By Stephen M. Nipper

[My wife and I recently stayed at the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle ... prompting this Beatles-themed IP Memes (on August 21, 1964 the Beatles stayed at the Edgewater (remember the picture of them fishing out of a hotel room window) when they played in Seattle. The Edgewater this year (apparently) has been celebrating the "Fab Four Oh" (40 years ago).]

GET BACK: THE X (PATENT) FILES
As of August 10, 2004, the highest “numbered” patent was U.S. Patent No. 6,775,843, issued to Sony for a “Method and apparatus for digital TV channel mapping.” Most people don’t know that there were roughly 10,000 unnumbered patents that preceded U.S. Patent No. 1. On December 15, 1876, a fire raged through Blodgett’s Hotel (which at the time was housing the government’s only copies of the original issued patent certificates while the first Patent Office was being built across the street). The fire destroyed the entire collection of issued patents.

Following the fire, the Patent Office started numbering newly issued patents (starting with the number 1) and started working on the project of obtaining copies of the 10,000 original patents (these patents numbered with an “X” prefix, i.e., patents X1, X2, etc.). Recently, a couple of patent attorneys (Scott J. Asmus, a partner in the law firm of Maine & Asmus in Nashua, N.H., and an associate, Andrew P. Cernota) disclosed that their research had turned up 20 previously unknown “X” patents. PHOSITA Blog Article & New York Times Article & USPTO’s Official Recount of the 1836 Fire

WE CAN WORK IT OUT
On July 30, 2004, President Bush nominated Jonathan W. Dudas via recess appointment to be the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The President had previously nominated Mr. Dudas on March 22, 2004, but his confirmation had been held up in the United States Senate. The recess appointment allows Dudas to act as Under Secretary/Director until Bush (or Kerry) can work it out with the Senate during the next session. Patently Obvious Blog Article & White House Announcement

HELP!
In December 2003, Abbott Laboratories raised the price of its AIDS drug Norvir 400%. AIDS patients, members of Congress and advocacy groups petitioned the National Institute of Health (NIH) asking the NIH to sue Abbott under the Bayh-Dole Act (35 USC 200-212) to obtain “march-in” rights (which could allow a generic copy of the drug to enter the market), noting that Norvir’s development was partially funded by a NIH grant. The Bayh-Dole Act gives “the Federal agency under whose funding agreement the subject invention was made shall have the right … to grant such a license itself.” Citing the global implications of drug pricing which should be addressed legislatively by Congress, the NIH declined to intervene. Law Under the Microscope Blog & Reuters Article

TICKET TO RIDE
Corporate sponsorship and trademarks are behind one of the latest NASCAR controversies. NASCAR has sold rights to product placement in “Victory Lane” allowing a sponsor to place goods upon the winner’s car during “Victory Lane” celebrations. This practice all came to a head earlier this year when a Gatorade (Pepsi product) bottle was placed on the roof of winning driver Tony Stewart’s (Coca-Cola sponsored) car. As Stewart exited the car, he “accidentally” knocked the Gatorade bottle off the roof and onto the ground. A few week’s later, Jimmy Johnson (Pepsi sponsored) won and intentionally blocked the view of the PowerAde (Coca-Cola) bottle placed on his car’s roof via one of his sponsor’s signs. Another Pepsi driver, Jeff Gordon, decided to avoid the PowerAde issue all together after his recent win, opting to celebrate not in Victory Lane, but in front of the grandstands. These actions resulted in NASCAR fining drivers and otherwise telling them all to “let it be.” USA Today Article & Fox Sports Article & Trademark Blog Article

IMAGINE
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has, over the last year or so, been scanning electronic images (Image File Wrappers) of all incoming patent applications. The USPTO recently announced that the electronic images (TIFF format) of published applications (which were scanned) are now available for public viewing. A patent application is typically “published” eighteen months after filing. The system is known as Public PAIR (Patent Application and Information Retrieval). Of course, applications which have not yet been published are not available online. USPTO Public PAIR Web Site & PAIR Computer Based Training Instructions & USPTO Quick Reference Guide

HELLO GOODBYE
Last year, Yahoo acquired a company named Overture (formerly known as Goto.com). Overture, at the time, was in the midst of suing Google over infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,269,361 (”System and method for influencing a position on a search result list generated by a computer network search engine”) and related patents. Overture had alleged that Google’s AdWords system infringed the patent(s). With just days to go before Google’s pending IPO, the parties announced a settlement of the lawsuit (and other pending disputes between the two companies). Google has agreed to license the patent and give Yahoo 2.7 million shares (worth $328,000,000), thereby allowing the competitors, who were once business partners, to go their separate ways. Washington Post Article

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