A new pending study is raising controversy about the reasons for litigation.  While it is not patent-law specific, it will certainly have an impact on the patent law world.  The study investigates whether it is better to settle disputes outside of court or go to trial.

The determined results were interesting.  It was determined that generally, it is “wrong” to go to trial, meaning that the cost of going trial is statistically much greater than the cost of settling out of court.  This finding holds true for both sides of the dispute.  According to the numbers, 61% of plaintiffs were wrong, and 24% of the defendants were wrong.  Only 15% of individuals made the right choice in going to trial.

They also determined that the cost is disproportionately greater for defendants than it is for plaintiffs.  Plaintiffs lost on average $43,000 dollars, where as defendants had to pay close to $1.1 million.  Sometime experience pays, especially when there is a lot of money at risk.

If you would like explore your patent law litigation options, contact an experience patent law attorney at William Kherkher by calling 866.950.9000.

The debate over patent law is getting hotly debated as more and more legislators are pushing for patent law reform.  Recently, Zoe Lofgren, a Democratic Representative from California, told a crowd in Denver that Congress should pass legislation to improve and update the United State patent law system by sometime next year.  A bill was passed in the House but stalled in the Senate because of controversy. 

Lofgren stress that new conversations must be forged that would begin with “things we know we can agree on.”  This would put things in place that would lay down a framework for a standardization of the patent law interpretation and judicial rule.  The ultimate question was a difficult one to answer.  Lofgren asked:  “How do you legally set a framework that prevents abuses and allows for a vigorous system that protects intellectual property?” 

If would like to explore your legal options with regard to patent law, contact the experienced patent law attorneys at the law offices of Williams Kherkher by dialing 866.950.9000.

As technology becomes more sophisticated and complex, determining whether or not a competing object has significantly infringed upon another creative invention, with similar components and functionality, has become an increasingly difficult task. 

Ultimately, the decision of whether or not a device has been infringed upon depends on the definition of what the device is and what it will be used for.  In some courts, a series of tests are conducted in order to make a determination. 

Devices are vetted against a “Doctrine of Equivalents.”  Through this process, elements of the accused device are compared very closely to the claimed device.  If there is a high equivalency rate, then the accused device may be charged.  Equivalency is determined through a “triple identity” test, which illustrates whether the elements of the device “perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to obtain the same result.”

These matters can be quite confusing.  If you would like to explore your options in patent litigation law, contact the patent law attorneys of Williams Kherkher at 866-950-9000.

An interesting decision was reached in court recently regarding the status of open source license conditions.  According to the court, the conditions are indeed enforceable under the copyright laws.

The courts believed that copyright holders in open source licensing have the right to control the modification and distribution of copyrighted material.  Anything other than what is specified under the rules and regulations stipulated by the copyright holder are considered unauthorized.  Unauthorized use of the content constitutes an infringement.

The judges determined that the “clear language of the Artistic Licensee creates conditions to protect the economic rights at issue in the granting of a public license.”  They figured that these rights apply to open source computer programs and that license conditions are enforceable through copyright law.

Patents, copyrights and the like can be very confusing.  It may be beneficial to hire the help of an experienced professional.  If you would like to explore your options, call the patent lawyers of Williams Kherkher at 866.950.9000.

It seems that the presidential candidates are being scrutinized in the patent law world, perhaps not to the degree of the national media, but definitely with future legislation in mind.  In a guest article published earlier this month, a law professor out of Duke University has provided his commentary on the entire matter, communicating his distinct lean to one side. 

He states that while Senator McCain has been ignoring the hotly –debated issue of patent law reform, Senator Obama has articulated a position very early in the race, which is unusual for candidate running during a time when social, legal, and economic issues are sensitive.  He also believes that Obama’s position demonstrates a nuances understand of the debate, which will certain influence his presidential decisions.

 Patent law is very complex issue.  Sometimes dealing in these things requires the help of an experienced patent law attorney.  If you would like to explore your patenting options, call the patent law specialist of Williams Kherkher at 866-950-9000.