More small businesses are bringing claims to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC), according to a new report.; Scottish Legal News, February 26, 2018

Scottish Legal News; More small businesses are bringing claims to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC), according to a new report.

"More small businesses are bringing claims to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC), according to a new report.

The number of claims heard by IPEC last year reached a record high...

“Growing numbers of technology companies, in particular, are using the court, as IP will often represent their most valuable asset,” it states."

Allergan is dealt another setback as patent board shoots down Mohawk patent deal; STAT, February 23, 2018

Ed Silverman, STAT; Allergan is dealt another setback as patent board shoots down Mohawk patent deal

"In a closely watched case, a U.S. patent appeals board ruled that a Native American tribe cannot claim sovereign immunity in order to avoid a certain type of patent challenge. The decision is a blow to Allergan (AGN), which last fall transferred patent rights to one of its biggest-selling medicines to the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe in hopes of thwarting generic competition.

Procedurally, Allergan sought to avoid inter partes reviews, a type of patent challenge that has vexed drug makers since going into effect six years ago, because these are easier and faster to file than patent lawsuits. At the time it transferred patent rights to its Restasis eye treatment, which last year generated more than $1.4 billion in sales, Allergan was facing a conventional patent challenge in a federal court."

Patent Trolls Target Small Businesses With Lawsuit Threats. Here's How One Startup Fought Back; Inc., February 22, 2018

Minda Zetlin, Inc.; Patent Trolls Target Small Businesses With Lawsuit Threats. Here's How One Startup Fought Back

"Why are they targeting small businesses?

For years, these entities made their money by suing or threatening to sue large corporations with deep pockets. This worked well because they could take advantage of the rule that companies can be sued anywhere they do business, and large companies tend to do business in every state. Patent trolls found a few federal court districts where they had greater odds of winning. From their point of view, life was good.

But in May 2017, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that companies could only be sued for patent infringement in the state where they reside. That made collecting much harder for patent assertion entities. Many turned their attention to small companies and startups for which the cost of defending a patent case could pose an existential threat. They began sending letters containing a simple proposition: Pay us a (relatively reasonable) one-time fee and we'll sell you a permanent license and drop our planned lawsuit."

When the Copyright Office Meets, the Future Needs a Seat at the Table; Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), February 21, 2018

Cory Doctorow, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF); When the Copyright Office Meets, the Future Needs a Seat at the Table

"Every three years, EFF's lawyers spend weeks huddling in their offices, composing carefully worded pleas we hope will persuade the Copyright Office and the Librarian of Congress to grant Americans a modest, temporary permission to use our own property in ways that are already legal.

Yeah, we think that's weird, too. But it's been than way ever since 1998, when Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, whose Section 1201 established a ban on tampering with "access controls for copyrighted works" (also known as "Digital Rights Management" or "DRM"). It doesn't matter if you want to do something absolutely legitimate, something that there is no law against -- if you have to bypass DRM to do it, it's not allowed.

What's more, if someone wants to provide you with a tool to get around the DRM, they could face up to five years in prison and a $500,000 fine, for a first offense, even if the tool is only ever used to accomplish legal, legitimate ends."

Apple looks to patent yoga calorie counting; Axios, February 22, 2018

Ina Fried, Axios; Apple looks to patent yoga calorie counting

"Ever wonder how many calories you are burning doing yoga? Well Apple has applied for a patent for a way to do just that...

Standard patent disclaimer: Patents represent an idea that a company has but don't always mean something is coming to market."

6 Core Values and 5 Emotional Intelligence Skills Leading to Sound Ethical Decisions; IPWatchdog, July 6, 2017

Bernard Knight, IPWatchdog; 6 Core Values and 5 Emotional Intelligence Skills Leading to Sound Ethical Decisions

"Ethical conduct is required in all jobs and by all organizations.   It also applies to positions at all levels.   Anyone can disagree with a substantive business or legal decision, but make an ethical mistake and your company, firm or individual career could be in jeopardy.   I explain below some excellent tools to avoid ethical missteps...

This article discusses how you can use core values and emotional intelligence skills to avoid ethical mishaps.   These skills are easy to gain and can save you from an unintended ethical mishap.   For more on the importance of emotional intelligence, see my prior IPWatchdog article."

Patenting the Future of Medicine: The Intersection of Patent Law and Artificial Intelligence in Medicine; Lexology, February 14, 2018

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP - Susan Y. Tull, Lexology; Patenting the Future of Medicine: The Intersection of Patent Law and Artificial Intelligence in Medicine

"Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the world of medicine, and the intellectual property directed to these inventions must keep pace. AI computers are diagnosing medical conditions and disorders at a rate equal to or better than their human peers, all while developing their own software code and algorithms to do so. These recent advances raise issues of patentability, inventorship, and ownership as machine-based learning evolves."