Category Archives: Licensing

In 2014, a group of America’s top technology companies created a unique way to combat the problem of patent assertion entities:  the License On Transfer (LOT) Network. Founding members of the LOT Network included Canon, Dropbox, Google, SAP and Ford Motor Company. In September 2015, Enplug Inc., Inductive Automation LLC, and SilverEdge Inc. joined the network.

Members of the LOT Network must sign an agreement to grant the other members a perpetual, royalty-free license to the member’s patents upon the occurrence of a “Triggering Event.” Triggering Events include a transfer of a patent (other than a defined “Non-Assertion Transfer”), or a change of control in which the surviving entity is a non-assertion entity.

As of the time of this post (September 2015), the LOT Network included over 50,000 granted patents and nearly 300,000 patent assets (including patents and pending applications). It serves as a unique, market-based solution that allows members to put their patents on the line when facing the challenge of patent assertion entities.

UPDATE:  On June 22, 2015, the Supreme Court upheld the Federal Circuit’s decision in this case. For more details, see this IP Spotlight post.

2015 could prove to be a time of change for patent licensing law, as the Supreme Court recently agreed to review the long-standing rule that a patent holder may only receive royalties during the term of a patent, and not after it expires.

In the case that is the subject of the appeal, Kimble v. Marvel Enterprises, Inc., the inventors of a toy with Spider-Man-like web-shooting capabilities sold a patent covering the toy to Marvel Enterprises. The agreement imposed Continue reading →

Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine has released the IAM Patent 1000:  The World’s Leading Patent  Practitioners 2014.  Each year, IAM surveys its readers and asks them to recommend patent licensing and prosecution attorneys for inclusion in the guide.  According to IAM:

[The IAM Patent 1000 is] a unique guide that identifies the top patent practitioners in key jurisdictions around the globe. . . .
The IAM Patent 1000 has fast become the definitive directory exclusively dedicated to identifying the world’s leading patent services providers. The extensive research process for this guide was conducted over several months by a team of full-time analysts, and involved in excess of 1,500 interviews with patent specialists across the globe.

The IAM Patent 1000 is available on the IAM website to registered users via this link.   I am honored that IAM named me to its lists for both patent licensing and patent prosecution for the fourth consecutive year.  In addition, I am pleased to note that my law firm, Fox Rothschild, is named to the guide’s honor roll for patent prosecution.

When two or more research institutions, corporations or other entities collaborate on an invention, it is common for them to agree that any patents resulting from the collaboration will be jointly owned. However, a jointly owned patent can be nothing more than a piece of paper if no party has a right to use the patent to stop infringement. The collaboration agreement, patent assignment documents or both must be carefully drafted to ensure that enforcement rights are protected.

This risk was recently highlighted in STC.UNM v. Intel Corp., Fed. Cir., No. 2013-1241, 6/6/14. In the case, STC.UNM attempted to sue Intel for infringement of a patent. The patent was a continuation-in-part of an earlier patent application that was jointly owned by the University of New Mexico (UNM) and Sandia Corp. Because of procedural matters involving a terminal disclaimer, UNM and Sandia also were co-owners of the patent in suit. However, Sandia refused to join the lawsuit, and there was no agreement in place between UNM and Sandia that required Sandia to do so.

The district court dismissed the case for a lack of standing, and the Federal Circuit affirmed.  As the Federal Circuit stated:

“as a matter of substantive patent law, all co-owners must ordinarily consent to join as plaintiffs in an infringement suit”

The reasoning for this ruling was that if only one co-owner sues, it effectively deprives the other co-owner of the right to sue and collect damages for infringement.

Both courts also refused to involuntarily join Sandia to the case as a necessary party.

The case highlights risks that can occur if joint owners of a patent don’t carefully specify enforcement rights — and obligations of both parties — in the relevant agreements.  When collaboration will result in invention, it’s important that the collaboration agreement, assignment agreement, or both specify who has enforcement rights. Even more important, it’s critical that the agreement require the non-enforcing co-owners to participate in the enforcement action when and if needed.