Archives of News

Newsletter August/September 2024

The August/September edition of our newsletter is now available.  Here’s a brief glance at what you’ll find in this edition: “Creativity doesn’t have to be fancy”, “Filing delay costs trademark holder infringement damages”, “When (and whether) contradictory claim language invalidates a patent” and “Do operating manuals qualify as “printed publications” under patent law?” Newsletter August/September […]
1 month ago

Shannon Smith was elected President of MIPLA

Shannon Smith was elected President of the Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association (MIPLA), a legal education non-profit that ties its roots back to 1913.  MIPLA develops and disseminates information concerning matters affecting, and of interest to, intellectual property practitioners and their clients.  MIPLA fosters good fellowship in the intellectual property community, and promotes matters of […]
1 month ago

Corey Beaubien has been named President Elect for Michigan IP Inn of Court

Corey Beaubien has been named President Elect for the 2024-2025 Michigan IP Inn of Court. The Michigan IP Inn of Court is a professional organization including judges, lawyers, legal educators, and others that foster a greater understanding of and appreciation for the adversary system of dispute resolution in American law, with particular emphasis on ethics, […]
1 month ago

Colin Cicotte recently designed a license agreement

Colin Cicotte recently designed a license agreement on behalf of a Tier-1 automotive supplier relating to the supply of power electronics and inverters used with battery electric vehicles to a Chinese licensor.
1 month ago

William Kolakowski recently secured issuance

William Kolakowski recently secured issuance of U.S. Patent No. 11,896,426 on behalf of client Dr. Jonathan Kaufman directed to evaluation of bone using a dual-mode ultrasound technique.  The patent issued following an appeal and the withdrawal of all rejections by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office examiner based on the arguments raised in the appeal.
1 month ago

Newsletter June/July 2024

The June/July edition of our newsletter is now available.  Here’s a brief glance at what you’ll find in this edition: “Parody shoe can’t outrun trademark infringement claim”, “Is there a substitute for the human touch?” AI-generated work isn’t copyrightable, “When the doctrine of equivalents results in patent infringement” and “Patentee’s claim term definition comes back […]
4 months ago

Shannon Smith coached the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law team

Shannon Smith coached the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law team in the USPTO’s National Patent Application Drafting Competition.  The team won the Midwest Regional Championship, and placed third at Nationals in Washington DC.  The team beat over 50 other law schools from across the country.
4 months ago

Corey Beaubien and Colin Cicotte traveled to participate in Chisum’s Patent Academy

Corey Beaubien and Colin Cicotte traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in Chisum’s Patent Academy.  The Patent Academy involved a small group participating judges, law professors, and seasoned patent attorneys, including retired Chief Judge Paul Michel formerly of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Professor Don Chisum, and Professor Janice Mueller.  The group […]
4 months ago

Alaina Norrito wrote a Note published in The Wayne Law Review

Alaina Norrito wrote a Note published in The Wayne Law Review (citation 69 Wayne L. Rev. 565).  The Note is titled “Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda: Why Federal Courts Can and Should Apply a Would Standard to the Non-obviousness Requirement of Design Patent Law.”  The Note examines the current application of the non-obviousness requirement to design patents […]
4 months ago

Steve Walmsley’s research got a patent infringement lawsuit quickly dropped

When a competitor hit a client with a patent infringement suit involving many U.S. patents of a large extended international patent family, and before ordering a costly patent invalidation search, Steve Walmsley scoured the prosecution histories of all family members and discovered killer prior art objectively withheld by the client’s competitor in the U.S. patents.  […]
4 months ago