Patent Search and Filing

eBay Settles Patent Battle with MercExchang (DesignTechnica)
Online auction house eBay has decided to settle a patent dispute with MercExchange dating back to 2001, buying all three patents for an undisclosed amount.

eBay Settles Patent Suit With MercExchange (WebProNews)
eBay and MercExchange have reached a settlement that finally puts to rest a patent dispute that at one time went as high as the U.S. Supreme Court and that started back in 2001. eBay and MercExchange had been involved in litigation over MercExchange’s patents and eBay’s online auctions and fixed price related ecommerce operations. read more

Court told to recalculate Microsoft patent infringement tab (Ars Technica)
The federal appeals court has ruled on the patent infringement case between Carlos Amado and Microsoft, telling the lower court to recalculate the amount of money Microsoft owes Amado for infringing on one of his patents in Microsoft Office. Read More…

Caliper license deal ends AntiCancer patent suit (BizJournals)
Caliper Life Sciences Inc. reports it has ended patent litigation between the scientific research products firm and AntiCancer Inc. via a cross-licensing deal.

Technology companies paid Patton Boggs $500,000 last year to lobby on patent overhaul (Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune)
WASHINGTON – A group of technology companies paid Patton Boggs LLP $500,000 in 2007 to push for patent-reform legislation. More than 60 companies and trade associations, including Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc., are members of Coalition for Patent Fairness.

Google & Microsoft Sued in Paid Search Related Patent Case (Search Engine Journal)
Last week an Ohio company filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and Google, alleging infringement on a patent related to paid search methods. The lawsuit was filed by Paid Search Engine Tools of Liberty Township, Ohio. In the lawsuit, the company claims that Microsoft adCenter and Google AdWords infringe upon patent no. 7,043,450, Paid Search Engine [...]

Tissue Extraction Devices Files a Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Hologic, Inc. and Suros Surgical Systems, Inc. (Centre Daily Times)
Tissue Extraction Devices, LLC, a privately held Indianapolis-based company focused on developing innovative medical devices, today announced that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLX) and wholly-owned subsidiary, Suros Surgical Systems, Inc. Tissue Extraction Devices strongly believes that many fundamental aspects of Hologic / Suros’ ATEC(R) line of …

Boston Scientific Loses Patent Trial (NYTimes.com via Yahoo! Finance)
A jury in Texas has ruled that Boston Scientific s drug-coated stents infringed a 1997 patent issued to a radiologist and has awarded the inventor $431 million.

Jury orders Boston Scientific to pay US$432 million in stent patent dispute (Canadian Business)
Mark Jewell, The Associated Press February 12, 2008 – 5:31 p.m. BOSTON – Boston Scientific Corp. was ordered to pay nearly US$432 million in damages to a doctor who contends the medical device maker’s drug-coated heart stents violate his 1997 patent.

Software developers gain limited rights to patent software (Computer Weekly)
Software developers have won back the right to patent programs in Britain, but only in strictly limited circumstances.