Author: Meredith Martin Addy

Evolutionary Intelligence Requests Amicus Support on Petition for Rehearing

Please consider the below amicus request for support overturning an important section 101 decision at the Federal Circuit and thereby providing consistent guidance on what types of inventions are “abstract.”

Evolutionary Intelligence will be filing a combined petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc at the Federal Circuit on April 19, 2017. Amicus support would be due by May 3, 2017.  read more

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TDR Files SCOTUS Amicus Brief for AIPLA in TC Heartland

Addressing Venue in Patent Cases

I am honored to have drafted the brief on behalf of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) in TC Heartland LLC v Kraft Food Group Brands LLC, U.S., No. 16-341 (2017), which concerns the appropriate scope of venue in patent infringement cases.

The brief supports the Federal Circuit interpretation of the general venue statute at 28 U.S.C. 1391 as providing a definition of “resides” applicable in the patent venue statute later in that chapter at 28 U.S.C. 1400(b). read more

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Rest in Peace, Ray Niro. You Will Be Missed.

In Memoriam Raymond P. Niro Sr.

Last week my heart turned over, after news from Italy. For me as for many others who knew Ray Niro, worked both with him and adverse to him, the week since has been one of reflection tinged with sadness.

Today I attended the service for Ray, to honor a man I deeply admired, learned from, and over the years came to know as a dear friend. It is a hard loss. read more

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Tabet DiVito & Rothstein: Why I Made the Leap

As the Law Firm Model Evolves, So Must Attorneys

Monday, May 2, was a big day for me: I joined specialist litigation firm Tabet DiVito & Rothstein LLC as a partner.

There’s a story here, of course. Katten is a great firm with great people. I learned a lot while I was there. But I’ve worked my entire career at some pretty large law firms, and while I appreciated the opportunities, experience, and advantages that big law presents, it was time for a change. read more

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Economics of Biosimilars: Zarxio Debut Sparks Debate.

Will BPCIA Affect Innovators’ Plans for Developing New Biologics?

Here come the biosimilars. Last month, Sandoz, a subsidiary of Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company Novartis, launched Zarxio, the first U.S.-approved biosimilar to be introduced under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act.

BPCIA, as the reader likely knows, created a pathway to regulatory approval of a competitive biologic, analogous to what Hatch-Waxman did with the accelerated new drug application (ANDA) route for generic pharmaceuticals in 1984. read more

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Warning! Patents Disrupt Safety of Thousands! (Not Really.)

Or, How Hyperbolic Headlines and Biased Reporting Affect Patent Reform

Breaking news! Did you hear? Patent troll disrupts safety of thousands; victims urge Congress to legislate.” So runs the headline from a recent article by reporter Amanda Ciccatelli at InsideCounsel.com.

Stop the presses!!! One patent troll is disrupting the safety of thousands, and its victims are urging Congress to legislate. Help! read more

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“Hard Bodies, Meet Big Data.”

NFL Debuts New Player-Worn Location and Movement Technology

If you’re an innovation buff, and I am, the Internet of Things is thrilling. That is, when it’s not a little creepy.

If you’re a football fan (and I am), learning that this season in the National Football League, worn sensors will connect players’ movements on the field to a computer for the purpose of data analysis seems kind of fun—although, outside the sports arena and taken to an extreme, this type of tracking could get really creepy. (More on that in a minute.) read more

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Jumping in Shark Tank? Better Have Flotation Device.

Do Contestants Understand Patent Law—And What They Have To Lose?

ABC’s Shark Tank has become my favorite show. I guess you could have predicted that. Every Friday night, my girls and I settle down on the couch to get our fix. Bring on the munchies!

Did anyone catch last week’s episode (EP605), apparently a rerun from 17 October 2014? In the first presentation, the contestants presented an inner-tube with metal bars in the middle to support safe jumping. Called the Jungle Jumparoo. read more

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Big Blue Swinging a Big Stick

Leads Pack in Cloud Patents. But What Does Alice Say?

IBM is leading the pack in developing cloud patents, according to a recent piece in Computerworld. But is the outlook sunny?

IBM is touting its fat IP portfolio, indeed. That’s (count ‘em) 7,534 patents in 2014 alone. Microsoft won 2,829 in the same period, Amazon 745. But IBM is getting flattened in the market right now, after being a market darling between about 2004 and 2011 or so. read more

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Bull Market in Patents Is No Bull

$19 bn. in Patent Deals Executed in 2012, Up from $450 mm. in 2011

In a recent piece for TheStreet.com, Kabir Sehgal writes about the emergence of patents as a tradable asset class.

He’s a little late to the party. A market for patents as valuable commodities has existed for at least two decades, maybe longer. And he’s a little off in the nomenclature: patents aren’t a “license to sell …”. They confer the right to exclude others from selling the patented invention. read more

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