Our firm is pleased to announce the three name partners of Harper & Bates LLP, including Scott Harper and Shannon Bates have been included in the 2016 edition of Texas Super Lawyers Magazine. Only the top five percent of attorneys in each state are selected as Texas Super Lawyers through an annual, state-by-state selection process that…
Judge Amos Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas recently became one of the first federal judges to award treble damages for willful patent infringement under the new Supreme Court standard for enhanced damages laid out in Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc. Judge Mazzant, citing Halo, enhanced the jury’s $7 million award in IP Holdings (Cayman),…
On August 17, in In re Andrew Silver, a panel of the Dallas Court of Appeals handed down a 2-1 decision refusing to recognize a patent-agent privilege. The appellate court, in affirming the trial court’s decision to order production of emails between a client and his patent agent, held that communications between clients and non-attorney patent agents…
On July 20, 2016, Judge Rodney Gilstrap of the Eastern District of Texas issued a revised docket control order for patent cases removing his prior requirement that litigants must be granted permission before filing motions for summary judgment. Judge Gilstrap, who handles substantially more patent cases than any other judge in the country (32% of…
On July 11, the Federal Circuit clarified and limited the reach of the on-sale bar to patentability, which provides that an invention cannot be patented if, more than one year prior to the patent filing, it was: (1) the subject of a commercial offer for sale; and (2) ready for patenting. Focusing on the first…
With its May 2016 decision in Baker v. DeShong, the Fifth Circuit became the most recent appeals court to relax the standard for awarding attorneys’ fees in trademark disputes. Applying the Supreme Court’s Octane Fitness ruling on fee-shifting in patent cases to Lanham Act suits, the Fifth Circuit concluded litigants need only show a case “stands out” from…
Copyright is a term used to describe a legally recognized property right in a creative work.[i] Copyright law protects an author’s “original works of authorship,” including literary, musical, dramatic, choreographic, pictorial, audiovisual, sound recordings, and architectural works.[ii] Copyrights essentially protect artistic, original expression. The Constitution expressly protects copyrights by stating that “Congress shall have Power . .…
A trademark is a designation used to identify and distinguish the goods of one person from those of another.[i] Trademark law generally encompasses several types of identifying marks, such as trademarks on goods, service marks and trade dress.[ii] Federal law governs trademarks under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C.[iii] Unlike patents and copyrights, the Constitution does not specifically grant…
Scott Harper has been selected to present at the 7th Annual Essentials of Business Law Course, which takes place March 3-4, 2016 at the Hilton Houston Westchase Hotel in Houston, Texas. Scott’s presentation, which takes place Thursday, March 3, will provide an introduction to intellectual property concepts relating to business transactions. The conference is presented…
The 21st century economy presents various challenges to the modern business owner. Whether one is a small local merchant or a multinational corporation providing goods and services around the world, business owners must identify and protect their business assets to maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. “Ideation” and “monetization” are watchwords used to spur innovation…