Intellectual-Property

FTC Issues Policy Statement on Orange Book Patent Gaming: Pharmaceutical Evergreening as Unfair Competition Under Section 5

| Importance: 9/10

The Federal Trade Commission issues a policy statement declaring that improper patent listings in the FDA’s ‘Orange Book’ (Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations) constitute potential unfair methods of competition under Section 5 of the FTC Act or unlawful …

FTC Andrew N. Ferguson FDA Amphastar Mylan +2 more intellectual-property pharmaceutical-patents patent-evergreening orange-book ftc +3 more
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FTC v. Qualcomm: Judge Lucy Koh Finds Antitrust Violations in Standard Essential Patent Licensing, Later Reversed on Appeal

| Importance: 8/10

Federal Judge Lucy Koh issues a 233-page decision finding Qualcomm violated antitrust laws (Sherman Act Sections 1 and 2) through its ’no license, no chips’ policy for standard essential patents (SEPs) covering cellular modem technology, which Qualcomm had committed to license on Fair, …

FTC Lucy Koh Qualcomm Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Department of Justice +1 more intellectual-property patent-abuse standard-essential-patents frand antitrust +3 more
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TC Heartland v. Kraft: Supreme Court Limits Patent Forum Shopping, Curbing Eastern District of Texas Troll Haven

| Importance: 8/10

The Supreme Court unanimously rules in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC (581 U.S. 258) that for patent infringement suits, a domestic corporation ‘resides’ only in its state of incorporation under 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b), overturning nearly 30 years of Federal Circuit …

Supreme Court Clarence Thomas TC Heartland Kraft Foods Rodney Gilstrap +1 more intellectual-property patent-abuse patent-trolls supreme-court judicial-reform +2 more
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Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank: Supreme Court Restricts Software Patents, Reducing Patent Troll Leverage Over Abstract Business Methods

| Importance: 8/10

The Supreme Court unanimously rules in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International (573 U.S. 208) that abstract ideas implemented on generic computers are not patent-eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101, establishing a two-step framework for patent eligibility. Justice Thomas delivers the opinion holding that …

Supreme Court Clarence Thomas Alice Corp CLS Bank International USPTO intellectual-property patent-abuse software-patents supreme-court business-methods +1 more
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Oracle Sues Google for Copyright Infringement Over Java APIs in Android

| Importance: 7/10

Oracle Corporation filed a lawsuit against Google on August 13, 2010, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging copyright and patent infringement over Google’s use of Java application programming interfaces (APIs) and approximately 11,000 lines of Java source …

Oracle Google Larry Ellison Sun Microsystems oracle intellectual-property lawsuits anti-competitive java
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eBay v. MercExchange: Supreme Court Limits Automatic Patent Injunctions, Enabling Patent Troll Business Model to Flourish

| Importance: 8/10

The Supreme Court unanimously rules in eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C. (547 U.S. 388) that patent injunctions are not automatic upon finding infringement, requiring plaintiffs to meet a four-factor equitable test: (1) irreparable injury, (2) inadequate legal remedies, (3) balance of hardships, and …

Supreme Court Clarence Thomas Anthony Kennedy eBay MercExchange intellectual-property patent-abuse supreme-court patent-trolls judicial-capture +1 more
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Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 512: Safe Harbor Provisions Create Dual System of Corporate Protection and Individual Vulnerability

| Importance: 9/10

President Clinton signs the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), with Section 512 creating ‘safe harbor’ liability protections for online service providers (OSPs) that comply with ’notice and takedown’ procedures. While presented as balancing copyright protection with …

Bill Clinton U.S. Copyright Office Google YouTube Recording Industry Association of America intellectual-property copyright dmca regulatory-capture censorship +2 more
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Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act: Disney Lobbying Creates 'Mickey Mouse Protection Act,' Extending Corporate Rent Extraction by 20 Years

| Importance: 9/10

President Bill Clinton signs the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), extending copyright terms by 20 years—from life plus 50 years to life plus 70 years for individual authors, and from 75 to 95 years for corporate works. The legislation, derisively nicknamed the ‘Mickey Mouse …

Walt Disney Company Bill Clinton Time Warner Universal Viacom +2 more intellectual-property copyright regulatory-capture corporate-lobbying disney +2 more
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