Patent Threats: Initial Response Strategies

Description

The first several hours after receiving a notice letter or being served with a complaint are critically important for companies and their counsel. This is the most valuable period to develop good defenses quickly.

Counsel must evaluate the patent threat and determine the most viable defenses and arguments to achieve the client's goals and defeat a patent threat—and quickly gather ammunition for use in a pre-litigation discussion or in drafting an answer to a complaint.

The key to success is understanding the techniques and strategies to improving the position of an accused infringer in a patent case or pre-litigation in a manner that is both time and cost efficient.

Listen as our authoritative panel of patent litigators examines tactics for identifying inherent defects in the patent, finding prior art and potential inequitable conduct without a “scorched earth” search, and formulating other defenses in a cost-effective way. They will provide a practical checklist with steps to take when facing a patent threat.

Outline

1. Ascertaining the threat
   1. The patent holder and its counsel
   2. The judge and forum
   3. Possibility of an injunction
   4. Products potentially at risk
2. Identifying inherent defects in the patent
   1. Assignments/ownership
   2. Maintenance fees
   3. Small entity status
   4. Written description
   5. Indefiniteness
3. Finding prior art and evidence of inequitable conduct
   1. Prior art that inventors or prosecuting attorney knew about
   2. Other sources of easily-found prior art
4. Identifying other defenses
   1. Waiver
   2. Implied licenses/ exhaustion
   3. Laches
   4. Standards

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key questions:

• How can counsel quickly gather ammunition for use in a pre-litigation conversation with a patent holder who has sent a patent notice letter?
• Once a lawsuit has been filed, which defenses are “low-hanging fruit” that can be formulated and supported with evidence quickly and cheaply?
• What strategies can counsel employ to develop strong defenses in a short amount of time?

Webinar/Teleconference

Strafford webinars/teleconferences offer several options for participation: online viewing of speaker-controlled PowerPoint presentations with audio via computer speakers or via phone; or audio only via telephone (download speaker handouts prior to the program).  Please note that our webinars do not feature videos of the presenters.

CLE Credit

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