Jake B. Vallen
Subscribe to Jake B. Vallen's PostsJake Vallen focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation matters Read Jake Vallen's full bio.
Standard Practice: The Public Has Right to Copyrighted Material Incorporated Into Law
By Jake B. Vallen on Sep 28, 2023
Posted In Copyrights
In a case that attracted a slew of amicus curiae participation and was the most recent in the series of American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) copyright cases, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the district court’s holding that the noncommercial dissemination of standards, as incorporated by reference...
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The End Is Not So Near: Patent Term Adjustments Count in Obviousness-Type Double Patenting Determinations
By Jake B. Vallen on Sep 7, 2023
Posted In Patents
Addressing for the first time how patent term adjustments (PTAs) interact with obviousness-type double patenting (ODP), the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concluded that when members of a patent family have different expiration dates due to PTAs, the earlier expiring family members can be used as a basis for an ODP invalidity...
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No Snipe Hunting: AIA Adherence Means No Interference (Proceedings)
By Jake B. Vallen on Jul 27, 2023
Posted In America Invents Act, Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concluded that patents and applications that have only ever contained claims with an effective filing date after March 16, 2013—i.e., pure America Invents Act (AIA) patents—may not be subjected to an interference proceeding by the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) Director. SNIPR Techs. Ltd. v....
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Double Jeopardy Doesn’t Attach to Venue and Vicinage Clause Violations
By Jake B. Vallen on Jun 29, 2023
Posted In Trade Secrets
The Supreme Court of the United States concluded that the Constitution’s Double Jeopardy Clause does not preclude retrial of a criminal defendant who was prosecuted in an improper venue and before a jury drawn from the wrong district. Smith v. United States, Case No. 21-1576 (Sup. Ct. June 15, 2023) (Alito, Justice.) Timothy Smith was...
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Strike 1: Priority. Strike 2 :Likelihood of Confusion. Strike 3: You’re Out under Section 2(d).
By Jake B. Vallen on Apr 27, 2023
Posted In Trademarks
The Trademark Trial & Appeal Board affirmed the rejection of three trademark applications, finding that the applied-for marks would cause confusion with a record-setting major league baseball player. Major League Baseball Players Ass’n v. Chisena, Opp. Nos. 91240180; 91242556; 91243244 (TTAB Apr. 12, 2023) (Cataldo, Heasley, Larkin, ATJ.) (precedential). Michael P. Chisena sought registration of...
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Disclaiming Claim Scope: Could the Patentee Have Anticipated This?
By Jake B. Vallen on Apr 6, 2023
Posted In Patents
In the most recent decision in the Apple/VirnetX saga, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a remand ruling from the Patent Trial & Appeal Board finding the challenged claims of VirnetX’s patents unpatentable. VirnetX Inc. v. Mangrove Partners Master Fund, Ltd., Case No. 2020-2271 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 30, 2023) (Moore, C.J.;...
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Prior Art Coherency and Cache Incoherency: “Known-Technique” Rationale for Motivation to Combine
By Jake B. Vallen on Mar 23, 2023
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, addressing the issue of whether certain factual and legal conclusions relating to obviousness were supported by substantial evidence, held that the Patent Trial & Appeal Board improperly rejected evidence of “known-technique” rationale to provide a motivation to combine. Intel Corp. v. PACT XPP Schweiz AG, Case...
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DC Circuit to Disputes Ancillary to Patent Matters: “You Can’t Sit with Us”
By Jake B. Vallen on Mar 2, 2023
Posted In Patents
For the first time, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit addressed whether appeals of discovery orders ancillary to a patent suit are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The DC Circuit joined its sister circuits and held in the affirmative. Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Zur...
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