The Latest From Kinney and Lange

Posts for Newsletter Vol. 8, Issue 1

Recent Patents | Newsletter, Vol. 8, Issue 1

Kinney & Lange P.A. files hundreds of new patent applications each year in a wide variety of technology areas. Below are a few recently issued U.S. patents for which the firm is listed as the legal representative.  9,023,155 “Engine wash apparatus and method-manifold” 9,021,778 “Airfoil including trench with contoured surface” 9,025,294 “System and method for controlling solid state circuit breakers” 9,030,200 “Spin dependent tunneling devices with magnetization states based on stress conditions” 9,027,609 “Argon gas level controller” 9,032,619 “Compressor stator chord restoration repair method and apparatus”  9,034,465 “Thermally insulative attachment”

Fair Use Avoids Takedown

■ Adam E. Szymanski In Lenz v. Universal Music Corp., Nos. 13-16106 and 16107 (9th Cir. Sept. 14, 2015), a panel of the 9th Circuit held that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) requires a copyright holder to consider fair use before sending a takedown notice to an online service provider, like YouTube® or Google®. Failure to consider fair use, the court determined, raises a triable offense issue as to whether the copyright holder formed a subjective good faith belief that the use was authorized by law.   The claim arose when Universal Music Corp. sent a takedown notice to...

Laches in Patent and Copyright Law: A Different Calculus

■ Adam E. Szymanski In SCA Hygiene Prods. Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Prods., LLC, No. 2013-1564 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 18, 2015), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, ruling en banc, held that laches remains a defense to legal relief in a patent infringement suit, despite the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Petrella v. Metro Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 1962 (2014) regarding laches in copyright cases. SCA sued First Quality for infringing U.S. Patent No. 6,375,646 directed to absorbent pants-type diapers. SCA sent a letter to First Quality on October 31, 2003, asserting that First Quality’s Prevail®...

‘Means’ Or Not ‘Means’, That Is The Question

■ John D. Leighton The presence or absence of the word “means” in a claim has long been accompanied by one of two comp-lementary presumptions. Using the word “means” in a claim element creates a rebuttable presumption that §112, para. 6 applies and means-plus-function claiming occurs. Conversely, failure to use the word ‘means’ also creates a rebuttable presumption — this time that §112, para. 6 does not apply. Since 2004, however, these presumptions have been asymmetric ones. The Federal Circuit first established this asymmetry with the Lighting World, Inc. v. Birchwood Lighting, Inc., 382 F.3d 1354, 1358 (Fed. Cir. 2004)...

K&L Welcomes New Associates

Kinney & Lange P.A. is pleased to welcome John Fandrey, Tony Salmo, Adam Szymanski, and Lea Westman as associates. John Fandrey graduated from University of St. Thomas School of Law. John has an under-graduate degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri – Columbia. Anthony (Tony) Salmo graduated from William Mitchell College of Law. Tony has an under-graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. Adam Szymanski graduated from William Mitchell College of Law. Adam holds an under-graduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin. Lea Westman graduated from the University of St. Thomas School...

The Federal Circuit’s Second En Banc Decision In Akamai Technologies v. Limelight Networks

■ John P. Fandrey In August of 2015, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued its second en banc decision in Akamai Techs., Inc., v. Limelight Networks, Inc., Nos. 2009-1372, 2009-1380, 2009-1416, 2009-1417 (Fed. Cir., August 13, 2015), a case which began in 2006. The underlying issue is whether there is liability for so-called “divided” or “split” infringement involving multiple actors. The Federal Circuit explained that in patent infringement cases the acts of one actor may be attributed to another where the other “conditions participation in an activity or receipt of a benefit upon performance of a step or steps...

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