During past month when many patent practitioners may have been distracted by the “laws of nature” meaning of the Mayo v. Prometheus decision, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued four precedential rulings confirming the exclusive authority of federal courts to adjudicate patent legal malpractice claims. Only the Supreme Court can alter this… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Rules of Professional Responsibility
Subscribe to Rules of Professional Responsibility RSS FeedThe Perils of Patent Prosecution Delegation: A Cautionary Tale
Posted in Expert Witness, Legal Malpractice, Patent Prosecution, Rules of Professional ResponsibilityWhat happens when a start-up company (Protostorm) retains a sole practitioner to prepare provisional patent applications, another solo lawyer to prepare the corresponding U.S. non-provisional application, and yet another firm to file the resulting Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”) application? This is getting complicated, right? Add to this mix these salient facts: (1) neither Protostorm nor… Continue Reading
The Ethics of Patent Litigation Forum Shopping
Posted in Rules of Professional Responsibility, Venue SelectionForum-shopping for favorable jurisdictions in which to try or defend a case is second nature to patent litigators. This post analyzes the dissonance between how that practice is sometimes disparaged legislatively and judicially and how such conduct is evaluated through the ethical lens of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Patent legislative history and cases refer… Continue Reading
The Ethical Obligation to Self-Report Patent Legal Malpractice
Posted in Insurance Claims, Legal Malpractice, Rules of Professional ResponsibilitySelf-reporting your errors in prosecuting a patent application or litigating a patent claim is surely not on any lawyer’s “to-do” wish list. Many errors are correctable, stem from legitimate differences of opinion, or are of only minor moment. Part of the art of lawyering is perceiving and correcting errors before they become material impediments to the… Continue Reading
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