Editor’s Note: This post original appeared on TechCrunch. While perusing the latest patent lawsuit filings on PriorSmart this week, I was drawn to a series of cases filed by a small company called PersonalWeb against RackSpace (possibly for hosting GitHub), Nexsan, Facebook, Apple, Yahoo, Microsoft, and
strategy Archive
Samsung V. Apple And The Obviousness Standard
Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared in TechCrunch. In the wake of Apple’s billion-plus dollar win in their patent suit against Samsung last week, much of the focus appears to be on the flaws in the patent system. Many argue that the suit involved patents that are “obvious,” and that Apple is a bully in enforcing them. [&hellip
Facebook’s Patent Acquisitions? They’re More About Google Than Yahoo
Editor’s Note: This article was originally posted in TechCrunch. In the past few months, Facebook’s patent portfolio has grown exponentially as a result of acquisitions of patent portfolios from IBM and Microsoft. After acquiring 650 AOL patents and patent applications from Microsoft, the company now has approximately 1,400 patent assets. Amazingly, only 46 of these assets (24 issued patents and22 [&hellip
The Twitter IPA: What does defensive really mean?
Twitter is an innovative company, and today’s introduction of the Innovator’s Patent Agreement shows that their legal department can be innovative too. The Innovator’s Patent Agreement, a draft of which was released on GitHub, will allow inventors to retain control of their inventions to make sure that they are only used for defensive purposes. This [&hellip
Help! There’s a patent on my idea! What now?
One of the most frequent questions I get goes something like this: “I have a really cool idea, but (name of big company or university) has a patent on that.” With over 8,000,000 patents issued to date and thousands of new patents issued weekly, the chances are good that there are patents out there that [&hellip
Thinking about IP? The first question to ask is…
When talking with a new client or a potential client about their IP position, needs and strategy, I always start by asking the same question: “which feature of your product do you fear competitors copying.” This question leads to a discussion about what really sets the particular company/product apart from all the current and future [&hellip
IP as an exit strategy
For any entrepreneur starting their company, the reward for a lot of hard work is typically a great new product that hopefully leads to customers, sales and wealth. Of course, the end goal also often includes an exit strategy. Generally, the exit strategy has been to be acquired or to have a successful IPO. The [&hellip
America Invents Act and the Lean Startup
One of the biggest debates leading up to the passage of the America Invents Act, the patent reform law that was signed by president Obama in October, 2011, was its effect on small businesses. Many worried that the first to file provisions of the new patent act would disadvantage small businesses by forcing them to [&hellip
The IP of Business Insider’s twenty most innovative startups
Business Insider did a feature looking at the “The 20 Most Innovative Startups in Tech.” I became curious how many of these startups have IP assets, so I took a look at the USPTO assignment databases. Details are below
Dropbox IP – why patent now?
I received an e-mail this morning asking me what the job posting for a patent counsel on the Dropbox website means. Dropbox currently has no patents or published patent applications at the USPTO or at WIPO. The single patent that appears assigned to a Dropbox Inc at the USPTO assignment database is clearly a different [&hellip