It was a wild ride in intellectual property law during 2011, and more excitement waits in store — this year Congress tore up the old patent law rule book. Staff reporter Sheri Qualters surveys some of the highlights.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rang in 2011 by bidding farewell to a common patent damages calculation canon. The unanimous panel in Uniloc USA Inc. v. Microsoft Corp. on Jan. 4 essentially told the so-called 25% “rule of thumb” to hit the highway. The rule was commonly considered a licensee’s opening reasonable royalty offer to a patent holder during a hypothetical negotiation. “The court is basically setting forth additional guidelines in terms of what is appropriate and inappropriate in a damages case,” said Uniloc’s Federal Circuit lawyer Donald Dunner, a partner at Washington’s Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner.
