Lewis Roca Blog

When one party is found to have infringed the patent rights of another, the often-difficult task of calculating economic damages begins. As one step in this process, the time period during which damages have accrued must be determined. When damages begin to accrue is considered primarily in light of when the infringing party was made …

Supreme Court of the United States On November 27, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Oil States Energy Services LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC, a case examining the constitutionality of inter partes review proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”). Specifically, the case addresses the question “[w]hether inter …

By a resounding seven to zero vote, the City Council in Pueblo, Colorado recently passed a resolution to explore if and how the city could extricate itself from its franchise agreement with Black Hills Energy (BHE), clearing the way for the city to pursue creation of a municipal utility.

Twitter has been referred to as “the Wild West of the internet—a lawless, godless place designed for sinners and sure to corrupt the pure of heart.”1 While Twitter may not corrupt everyone, it does open new avenues to commit trademark infringement. What Are Hashtags and Hashflags?

“There is no blue without yellow and without orange.” — Vincent Van Gogh (June 1888). It is extremely difficult to secure trademark rights to a single color. Success stories are few and far between. Recently, General Mills, maker of Cheerios, sought trademark protection for the color yellow “as the predominant uniform background color on product …

“Impossible, simply impossible.” A common and candid response to the question of whether we can go a day without checking our social media. This simple response embodies the world we live in and the power that social media has over our personal lives. Social media is equally important in the corporate world. Companies ranging from …

On June 21, 2017, Sen. Christopher Coons (D-Del) introduced legislation that would limit patent validity challenges at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”), and strengthen patent owners’ rights in court. The bill is named the Support Technology & Research for Our Nation’s Growth and Economic Resilience Act, or the “STRONGER Patents Act of 2017,” …

Oil States Energy Services LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC 639 F.App’x 639 (Fed. Cir. 2016), cert. granted (June 12, 2017) (No. 16-712) Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Oil States Energy Services LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC to examine the constitutionality of inter partes review proceedings …

The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (“BPCIA”), codified in 42 U.S.C. § 262, ushered in a new wave of patent litigation for large molecules, and a bounty of questions regarding the application and interpretation of the statue.  In Sandoz v. Amgen, –U.S.–, June 12, 2017, The Supreme Court weighed in for the …

Under the longstanding doctrine of patent exhaustion, a patentee’s rights are “exhausted” once an authorized sale has occurred.  For many years, however, some courts have recognized exceptions to the doctrine, such as when the parties agree to various post-sale restrictions in an arms-length transaction, or where the patented item was first sold outside of the […]