2022 QCCQ 6675: Operating as "Fédération des Inventors du Québec", Varin offered to protect inventions but never filed a single patent application at CIPO.
2022 FCA 118: The appeal court saw no reason to interfere with a trial court decision that favoured MEG Energy in its ongoing patent dispute with inventor Jason Swist.
In 2021, the Federal Court found GreenBlue infringed Deeproot's patents and granted an injunction. In 2022, the court was unconvinced that GreenBlue violated the injunction.
Under the “on-sale bar”, privately offering to sell an invention before filing a patent application can void the patent rights in all but a few permissible scenarios.
Patent drafters should take the time to consider the “why” behind drafting choices. There is no “right” or “wrong” way here, only the need to be mindful.
Travel Sentry, Inc. v David A. Tropp, No. 2021-1908 (Fed. Cir., Feb. 14, 2022). The patents claimed an economic practice and method of organizing human activity, which is not subject-matter that can be protected under the patent system.
Patent applicants may wish to request examination for their Canadian patent applications soon to take advantage of the fees under the current Patent Rules.
The prior use defence allows a business to continue activities that would otherwise be patent infringement, if the activities pre-date the filing date of the patent.
Some of the most common errors made in patent applications are in the naming of applicants and inventors. If the mistake is not caught in time, it can cause a nasty headache for the patent owner.
Fed. Cir. No. 19-2286: The actual notice requirement of § 287 is only satisfied when the recipient is informed of the identity of the patent and the allegedly infringing activity.
Fed. Cir. Nos. 20-2321-2325: The Federal Circuit clarified that, while an applicant is required to pay all the expenses of PTAB proceedings, this does not include expert witness fees.
Provisional patent applications are generally well known in the start-up community as an affordable way to protect patent rights, but it can be hard to locate practical information. Here are the questions that our clients most frequently ask us about provisional patent applications.