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• Technology Licensing Agreements: Findlaw Interview with Richard C. Hsu of Townsend and Townsend and Crew ( August 2003 )
  FindLaw M V

  Richard C. Hsu is Co-Chair of the Technology Licensing Group, where he counsels and provides companies advice on all licensing transactions and associated intellectual property issues. He has extensive experience in licensing, development, acquisitions, service and other partnering agreements for a variety of industries, including semiconductors, life sciences, medical devices, hardware, software and telecommunications.

• Commercialization: Get the Most Out of Your Intellectual Property Rights ( June 2003 )
  Barry J. Hurewitz and Michael A. Diener of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

  Companies seeking to profit from their intellectual property may adopt a number of commercialization strategies, ranging from direct sales to the outright sale of their technology. Michael Diener of Hale and Dorr LLP discussed these two strategies, as well as the continuum of options in between them.

• The Impact of Non-Traditional Patent Litigation on Cost/Benefit Analysis ( June 2003 )
  J. Steven Baughman of Ropes & Gray LLP

  When a company receives a cease-and-desist letter, the most dreaded question that intellectual property counsel must answer is, "What is this patent suit going to cost us?" While a traditional cost-benefit analysis may be used to calculate the settlement value of a case, the evolution of unorthodox twists in traditional patent litigation may affect your answer and change the valuation of the case and the possibility of settling at an early stage.

• FTC-Rambus Trial To Set The Standard For Antitrust-IP Overlap ( May 2003 )
  Bernard  Rhee and M. June Casalmir of Powell Goldstein LLP

  Against the backdrop of multiple, private patent infringement cases, as well as a two year Federal Trade Commission investigation, the trial of the Commission's case against Rambus, Inc. began on April 30, 2003. In the Matter of Rambus, Incorporated, Docket No. 9302. Although former FTC Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) James Timony handled most of the pre-trial process, recently sworn-in ALJ Stephen McGuire will be presiding over the trial.

• What is Intellectual Property?: Patents ( May 2003 )
  Judith A Silver of Coollawyer.com

  Intellectual Property is the group of legal rights in things that people create or invent. Intellectual property rights include patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret rights. In Europe and some other countries, "moral rights", which are rights of the artist not to have her work greatly altered, are also included.

• Destroying Patent Rights by Making an "Offer for Sale" ( January 2003 )
  M Henry. Heines of Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP

  Patent infringement lawsuits are generally brought against parties that manufacture, use or sell, the patented invention without the patent owner's permission. Patent infringement can also occur when someone other has simply offered the invention for sale without the patent owner's permission. Sometimes in fact it takes very little to show that an offer has been made.

• The Looming Crisis Over the Research Use Exception To Patent Infringement: What Madey Taught Duke University ( January 2003 )
  Harold C. Wegner and Stephen B. Maebius of Foley & Lardner LLP

  <i>Madey v. Duke</i> promises to set off a lively debate about the direction of research at federally funded universities and in particular the role of patents both to protect the intellectual property wealth of such institutions but also the very right to continue to function as research institutions, free from third party patent problems. The confirmation by the court that a nonprofit or other university enjoys no special privilege or experimental use exemption to conduct testing or research guarantees that in the 108th Congress there will be a reconsideration of earlier attempts to provide a statutory research exemption.

• Research Method Patents: A Territoriality Loophole? ( October 2002 )
  Harold C. Wegner and Stephen B. Maebius of Foley & Lardner LLP

  Recent trial court decisions have exposed an Achilles' heel in licensing regimes for research method patents. In <i>Bayer AG v. Housey Pharmaceuticals, Inc.</i>, 169 F. Supp.2d 328 (D. Del. 2001), and in <i>Trustees of Columbia University in City of New York v. Roche Diagnostics GmbH</i>, 150 F. Supp.2d 191 (D. Mass. 2001), trial courts have sharply limited infringement liability for offshore use of patented methods, where the products introduced as the fruits of this research are ultimately manufactured without use of the patented methods. It remains to be seen what reception the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will give to this issue.

• IP Due Diligence in Biotech Business Transactions ( September 2002 )
  William  Schmonsees of Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP

  Intellectual property due diligence is generally conducted coincident with an investment or acquisition. Often the intellectual property is the most important asset of the target, particularly in the case of a start-up. Certain characteristics typify the due diligence process, regardless of the nature of the transaction, the underlying technology, or the size of the portfolio. Those characteristics include a short timeline, budget constraints, reliance upon representations made by counsel and the principals of the target, and the necessity of drawing conclusions.

• IP Value Extraction: Patent and Technology Licenses ( August 2002 )
  Barbara A. Wrigley of Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP

  One of the most common methods of extracting value is through licensing. Corporate counsel and senior executives embarking on licensing programs should be aware of certain pitfalls that may result in costly disputes and the loss of patent rights.