On May 18, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in the case of Amgen Inc. v. Sanofi and Aventisub LLC (Docket No. 21-757), holding that two U.S. patents owned by Amgen failed to satisfy the enablement requirement of 35 U.S.C. §112(a). The Court’s ruling upheld the opinion of the Federal Circuit. U.S. […]
Ocean Tomo Insights
Factors Influencing the Legal Quality of Patents
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, different aspects of patent quality are affected by different actors in the patent system. Improving patent quality requires careful examination of the various policy levers available to different actors. For instance, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is bound by the statutes set forth by Congress. […]
Exploring the Policy Levers that Impact Patent Quality
During my tenure at the US Patent and Trademark Office, the agency engaged in its Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative. To effectively improve patent quality, it was important to understand the various policy “levers” that might influence quality (and of course to understand what we mean by quality, as I discussed here). What levers are available […]
Recent Rulings Suggest Damages Experts Have Discretion in Considering License Agreements Post-Dating a Hypothetical Negotiation
On January 5, 2023, in the matter of Willis Electric Co., Ltd. v. Polygroup Limited, et al., Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota denied a motion to exclude expert testimony that relied on a license agreement post-dating the hypothetical negotiation.1 In this matter, Plaintiff Willis Electric […]
The Roles of Competition and Geopolitics in Cybersecurity and Cyber-Crime
Recently, the Ocean Tomo Cybersecurity Report was front and center in an interview on the Peggy Smedley Show. During the podcast interview, we were able to dissect a variety of important topics related to industry trends, dynamic threats, capital markets, and intellectual property (IP) in the cybersecurity industry. More specifically, our discussion covered: Paradigm shifts […]
The U.S. Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument Concerning the Standard for Enablement
On March 27, 2023 the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Amgen Inc. v. Sanofi and Aventisub LLC (Docket No. 21-757), a patent dispute originally filed by Amgen in late 2014. Amgen contends that Sanofi and Aventisub’s biologic, Praluent®, infringes seven U.S. patents, including U.S. Patent Nos. 8,829,165 (“the ‘165 Patent”) and 8,859,741 (“the […]
Intellectual Property Valuation & Technical Insights: A Path to Successfully Raising Capital
A valuation of intellectual property (IP) may be important when raising capital because it helps to determine the value of a company's most valuable assets – its intangibles. Historically, capital providers would look to the value of a company’s hard assets (such as property, plant, and equipment) to gain comfort before investing in or lending […]
Case Law on the Role of Non-Infringing Alternatives Under a Reasonable Royalty Analysis versus a Lost Profits Analysis
Consideration of non-infringing alternatives may be informative in determining financial damages associated with patent lawsuits under both a reasonable royalty analysis and a lost profits analysis. However, the following case law examples suggest that non-infringing alternatives serve a different role when considered under a royalty analysis compared to consideration under a lost profits analysis. In […]