The U.S. International Trade Commission voted to open a Section 337 Tariff Act investigation (337-TA-973) into allegations that Jawbone UP fitness trackers infringe Fitbit patents, the agency said in a Dec. 1 announcement. Fitbit requested the investigation in a Nov. 2 complaint, asking for a limited exclusion order and cease and desist order banning import and sale of the infringing fitness trackers. Jawbone representatives didn’t comment Monday.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will perform maintenance on its online systems Saturday, making access unavailable to the public and private Patent Application and Information Retrieval systems, plus the electronic filing systems, it said in a news release Monday. The online systems will be down from 12:01 a.m. EST Saturday until 11:59 p.m. EST that day, said the PTO. During the outage period, patent applicants are encouraged to submit documents and fees by first class or priority mail, or by facsimile transmission, it said.
The Patent and Trademark Office officially opened a new regional office in Dallas, it said in a news release Monday. The Dallas office will provide services to inventors and entrepreneurs in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas, the PTO said. Director Michelle Lee attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the final office opened in the PTO's 2012 initiative to create three additional regional centers across each continental U.S. time zone, the agency said. The Silicon Valley, California, regional office opened last month (see 1510160017).
Fitbit filed a Section 337 complaint with the International Trade Commission, alleging Jawbone is importing wearable activity tracking devices that infringe its patents. The complaint, filed Nov. 2, reacts to similar allegations filed by Jawbone in July (see 1507270026), taking issue with Jawbone’s Up line of fitness trackers. The ITC is asking for comments on the complaint by Nov. 16, it said in a notice in the Federal Register.
The Patent and Trademark Office's new San Jose office will host a program on efficient patent prosecution Nov. 17, it said in a news release Monday. The program's three sessions will be on topics including virtual interviewing capabilities, utilizing prior art search tools and using the patent ombudsman to resolve procedural prosecution issues, said the PTO.
Kudelski Group subsidiaries Nagra France and OpenTV filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Verizon and its subsidiary AOL in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Nagra said in a news release Monday. The suit alleges Verizon and AOL products and services -- including FiOS TV, FiOS TV Everywhere, Go90 video services, Redbox Instant and AOL's Spot On advertising and streaming video services -- infringe on at least one of seven U.S. patents held by OpenTV and Nagra France. Verizon didn't comment.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) will host a webinar concerning comments received on its Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative (EPQI) and the next steps it's considering, the PTO said in a news release Wednesday. The online chat will take place Nov. 10 and be hosted by Valencia Martin Wallace, PTO deputy commissioner for patent quality, and Senior Adviser Sandie Spyrou. The speakers will present a summary of comments received on EPQI, discuss how PTO plans to be responsive to the comments and provide more comprehensive details about the initiative, the release said.
The Patent and Trademark Office officially opened its new location in Silicon Valley, it said in a news release Thursday. The office, located in San Jose, California, will "help the West Coast region's entrepreneurs advance cutting-edge ideas to the marketplace, grow their businesses, and more efficiently navigate the world's strongest intellectual property system," the release said. Director Michelle Lee participated in Thursday's ribbon-cutting ceremony, and in her remarks, announced the PTO's new startup partnership. Lee said the partnership is a "robust, public-private collaboration with area innovators" that will ensure startups have increased and easier access to information about intellectual property, tailor existing IP resources and programs to the needs of the startup community, and develop new IP resources where appropriate to better serve newer companies.
The Patent and Trademark Office will host two "roadshows" in November as part of its patent quality discussion series, it said in a news release Friday. Western Michigan University Law School will host the first event on Nov. 4, and North Carolina Central University Law School will hold the second on Nov. 6. PTO patent quality experts and executives will lead discussions on global patent prosecution improvements, measuring patent quality, enhancing examiner interviews and patent automation initiatives, the release said.
The Patent and Trademark Office unveiled its newly developed icons for intellectual property, intended to "help spread awareness about IP while engaging with the public," Deputy Director Russ Slifer said in an agency blog post Friday. The 19 symbols, developed through the PTO Iconathon workshop, were designed to universally represent IP, and include icons for concepts such as infringement, invention, patent pending, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and trademark, said Slifer.