Finnegan Publishes the Advanced Technology Patent Report 2015

Finnegan’s Advanced Technology Patent Report 2015 is a comprehensive guide to significant developments in U.S. patent law and practice for the electrical and computer technology fields. It covers three main areas: patent prosecution, post-grant proceedings, and litigation. The report distills key precedents from the Supreme Court and Federal Circuit, and explains how they are driving changes at all levels of practice. Complementing its review of patent law developments, the report includes a collection of useful statistics, including those related to patent filings, grants by technology class, and district court litigation.  Some unique Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) statistics are also provided, including a breakdown on evidentiary sources relied on for claim construction.

Those involved in patent prosecution will be interested in the overviews of various U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) pilot programs, such as Track One examination, the First Action Interview Pilot Program, and the After Final Consideration Pilot Program 2.0. Changes to prosecution rules and procedures created by the America Invents Act (AIA) are also discussed.

For those interested in post-grant proceedings, the report examines early trends, key decisions by the PTAB, and number of important topics, such as stays of concurrent litigation, discovery issues, estoppel, and appeals. As noted in the report, IPR and CBM petitions are heavily focused on patents in the electrical/computer field, making up 65% of all petitions field thus fair in fiscal year 2015.

Finally, the report identifies important Supreme Court and Federal Circuit decisions impacting issues such as indirect infringement liability, patent-eligible subject matter, collection of attorneys’ fees, FRAND/RAND licensing, and domestic-industry requirements for ITC suits. The report also considers proposed legislation from federal and state authorities directed at curbing perceived problems with patent litigation.

A complimentary copy of the eBook is available for download on the Finnegan website.