USPTO rescinds patent rules

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is rescinding its highly controversial new patent rules, reports WTN News.

The USPTO also says a motion to dismiss and vacate the district court decision on these regulations litigated in Tafas vs. Dudas will be filed jointly with one of the plaintiffs-appellees, GlaxoSmithKline.

According to the new director of the USPTO, David Kappos, the rationale for rescinding these regulations is that “the USPTO should incentivise innovate, develop rules that are responsive to its applicants' needs and help bring their products and services to market...”

Irell & Manella, a law firm who represented eBay and its subsidiary Skype on their defence of a patent infringement case brought by Peer Communications, a subsidiary of Acacia Research, has reportedly won Federal Circuit affirmance, a crucial last step in patent disputes, reports TMCnet.

Peer's suit against Skype alleged infringement of two of Peer's patents for network communications technology.

After initially winning a patent case against Peer Communications in August 2006 in US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the case went to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Pitney Bowes has filed a lawsuit against Zumbox alleging that Zumbox`s "paperless mail" service for consumers infringes Pitney Bowes patents, according to Reuters.

The lawsuit was filed in California Central District Court and seeks, among other things, to enjoin Zumbox from further infringement.

"Pitney Bowes has been active in the acquisition, development and deployment of multi-channel messaging solutions, including those based on the platforms acquired from Alysis in 2000, Group 1 Software in 2004, and Emtex in 2006," says Bernie Gracy, vice-president of strategy and new business development, Pitney Bowes.