Category Archives: Litigation

“Past Damages” and Reexamination for Mature Patents

An earlier post discussed the impact of amendments in reexamination, but there are some dynamics we should explore for “mature” patents.  A mature patent is an old patent that is close to expiration.  (For example, a patent that has less … Continue reading

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In re Tanaka

Suppose you issued a patent with several claims, including dependent claims.  Now, suppose you wished you had claimed and issued a certain dependent claim, but did not have it in the originally issued patent.  That new dependent claim is narrower than your … Continue reading

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The Effect of Amendment in Reexam on Past Damages

Generally speaking, patent claims that are confirmed in reexamination without substantive changes retain all of the damages they would have obtained as if there was no reexam.  [Note that there are always exceptional situations.  For example, there are patent cases where a … Continue reading

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Patent Prosecution in View of Reexamination

In my last post I introduced reexamination briefly.  Once you understand that patent claims can be cancelled in a reexamination, it begs the question of how patent applications and claims can be drafted to survive reexamination.  I have both good news and bad news.  THE BAD NEWS … Continue reading

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Introduction: Why all of the interest in reexamination?

How many times have you heard:  “They got a patent on that!  There’s nothing new about that.  It’s been out there for years!”?  For those versed in patent matters, that is not a surprising reaction to certain issued patents.  The patent issuance procedure in … Continue reading

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