Steve Brachmann

Last week, the entrepreneur advocacy organization Alliance for U.S. Startups and Inventors for Jobs (USIJ) filed an amicus brief in support of the petition for writ of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court filed by patent owner Centripetal Networks challenging late changes to claim construction wrought by the district court without notice or opportunity to be heard in its patent infringement case against Cisco Systems. The USIJ’s filing follows one week after inventor advocacy group US Inventor filed its own amicus brief in support of Centripetal’s petition, arguing that a modest remedy to the deprivation of Centripetal’s due process rights would improve fairness for both patent owners and accused infringers alike.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: SpaceX reportedly seeks to build nationwide wireless carrier through purchase of 80,000 cellular sites; a joint study to which the European Patent Office contributed recommends strengthening tech transfer offices across the EU; the Unified Patent Court’s Court of Appeal finds that printed Gucci leather products don’t infringe patent claims to methods of decorating leather; and more.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order list that included a denial of Google’s petition for writ of certiorari challenging the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) development of settled expectations doctrine at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). This latest setback to industry-wide efforts opposing the duration of a patent’s life in force as a consideration leading to discretionary denials of inter partes review (IPR) proceedings comes a few weeks after the U.S. Solicitor General urged denial of Google’s cert petition, agreeing with the Federal Circuit that such a challenge was not available on mandamus review.

Last week, the Court of Justice for the European Union (CJEU) issued a pair of press releases conveying important clarifications to large platform designations under a pair of major legislative packages regulating e-commerce within the EU: the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). In one ruling by the EU’s General Court, and another opinion issued by an Advocate General of the CJEU, large platform designations creating obligations under either of those acts have been upheld for both major social media platform TikTok and Stripchat, an online adult entertainment platform operated across the EU.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: Liquidia announces a global settlement of patent infringement claims with United Therapeutics allowing sales of Yutrepia to continue; Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) author a letter urging a coordinated federal response to artificial intelligence (AI) safety concerns; Advocate General Biondi tells the Court of Justice for the European Union to dismiss TikTok’s challenge to its gatekeeper designation; and more.