Trade secrets: now more enforceable— and more important When Bloomberg released its list of the 10 biggest intellectual property verdicts of 2011, the most noteworthy thing about it may have been that the jury award total was twice that of 2010. The second-most noteworthy: the two largest verdicts weren’t for patent infringement but trade secret… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: America Invents Act (AIA)
Patent Pending: Shifts in patent law, and their impact extend beyond the America Invents Act
Posted on from MoFo Tech Spring/Summer 2012Once upon a time, patents were supposed to reward—and protect—innovation. That was before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (or PTO) got snowed under with applications, slowing the patent process to a crawl. Before the PTO started issuing streams of patents that many viewed as vague and overly broad. And before so-called nonpracticing entities, or… Continue Reading
FAQs: The America Invents Act
Posted on from MoFo Tech Spring/Summer 2012Could the America Invents Act help reduce the backlog of patents pending before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office? The PTO has long suffered from budgetary shortfalls, resulting in a backlog of some 670,000 applications. The AIA gives the PTO the right to boost its fees and keep at least some of its own funding. … Continue Reading