Waco Judge Enjoins Litigation of U.S. Patents in Germany
Judge Alan D Albright (Western District of Texas) loves patent cases. Before his appointment as a district judge in 2018, he was a patent litigator. After his appointment, he “went on a media blitz, letting everyone know that his court would welcome patent litigation.” As detailed here, Judge Albright adopted standing orders that promised speedy…
Continue ReadingIssue to Watch: Section 1782 and the Unified Patent Court
Section 1782 is big business, with large numbers of petitions filed in federal courts every year. 28 U.S.C. § 1782 is a federal statute authorizing federal courts order discovery for use in a foreign or international tribunal (but not an international arbitral tribunal). The Supreme Court elaborated various aspects of Section 1782 in its 2004 decision Intel Corp. v….
Continue ReadingFederal Circuit Reconsiders Extraterritorial Patent Damages
The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Brumfield v. IBG LLC suggests that U.S. patent holders may be able to obtain damages for foreign activities that flow from domestic acts of infringement proscribed by 35 U.S.C. § 271(a). This is a new development: as the Federal Circuit explained, the Supreme Court’s extraterritoriality analysis in WesternGeco LLC…
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