MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2010, 9:00 a.m.

IP BRIEFS -- Compiled from newswires and other sources:

Record Number of Patents Granted in China -- On Thursday the Wall Street Journal reported that China’s State Intellectual Property Office issued more than 580,000 patents in 2009, up 41 percent from a year earlier.  The article quoted industry representatives including IPO member MARK COHEN of the Jones Day law firm as having concerns about recent revisions to China’s patent law.   Some believe the law could disadvantage foreigners.

Drug Firms Cutting R&D Spending -- On Thursday the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer Inc. will cut R&D spending by up to $3 billion by 2012, following the take-over of Wyeth.  According to the article, other drug companies are planning to cut R&D spending as well.  Sanofi-Aventis plans to cut R&D by 20 percent between 2008 and 2011.

ITC to Investigate Sharp’s Claim of Samsung Patent Infringement -- Last week the U.S. International Trade Commission said it would investigate Sharp Corp.’s patent infringement claims against Samsung Electronics Co. over liquid- crystal displays.  (Business Week)

UK Judge Finds for RIM in Patent Dispute with Motorola -- Last week a judge in the UK ruled that Research In Motion Ltd., maker of BlackBerry devices, did not infringe a Motorola Inc. patent on an email gateway system.  (Montreal Gazette)

IPO’S FEDERAL CIRCUIT SUMMARIES™:

U.S. Patent 5,628,890

*   *   Invalidity Decision Upheld Despite Erroneous Instruction to Jury on Anticipation Because Patent Claims Were Obvious -- Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. 2009-1008 -- On January 25 in an opinion by Judge Linn, the Federal Circuit upheld a district court decision that Therasense’s patent claims were invalid.  The Therasense (now Abbott Diabetes Care Inc.) patent was for electrochemical sensors for measuring glucose levels in blood.  The district court gave an erroneous instruction to the jury on the law of anticipation, but the error could not have changed the result because the claims were obvious.  Becton, Dickinson’s cross-appeal on an issue of infringement of the claims that were held invalid was dismissed.
(1 to 4 stars rate impact of opinion on patent & trademark law)

WASHINGTON MOSTLY CLOSED TODAY -- More than 17 inches of heavy snow forced closure of the federal government and most other offices in Washington, DC today.  The IPO office is operating with minimal staff.   Calls and emails will be returned tomorrow.

THIS WEEK ON IPO’S IP CHAT CHANNEL:  OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE -- Tune in to the IP Chat Channel on Thursday, February 11 at 2:00pm to listen to a live discussion on new developments in litigation and compliance.  In mid December Samsung Electronics, Best Buy, and a slew of other technology companies were sued by Software Freedom Conservancy Inc., an open source software rights enforcement group.  This action is just the latest to make clear that open source software comes with its own set of responsibilities.   In corporate M&A, for instance, IP lawyers are seeing an increased need for specific warranties and representations regarding open source software.  This webinar will look at recent important decisions in the open source world, newly launched litigations, and what the future holds.  Discussion will focus on legal and tactical efforts by both plaintiffs and defendants.  Panelists will also consider how a corporation can make sure that its use and development of software doesn’t make it liable to attack under open source licenses, and what a corporation should do if it finds it is out of compliance.  Panelists include AARON WILLIAMSON, Software Freedom Law Center; PETER VESCUSO, BlackDuck Software; and JEFFREY OSTERMAN, Weil Gotshal.  To register or for more information, visit www.ipo.org/ipchatchannel.

2009 IP RECORD PUBLISHED ON IPO WEBSITE -- This annual publication contains the Top 300 Patent Owners for 2008, assorted graphs and tables with other U.S. patent, trademark, copyright and litigation statistics, IPO’s Federal Circuit SummariesTM and IPO amicus brief highlights.  It is available only to IPO members and can be found at www.ipo.org/iprecord.