Morgan Lewis on Intellectual Property and Technology
April 2003

In this Issue:

• Ringside at Festo: Courthouse Packed for Patent Prize Fight:
  The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently held an en banc rehearing in Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kabushiki Co., which had been remanded by the U.S. Supreme Court in its May 2002 decision.
• Sonny Bono and the Supremes: The Beat Goes On:
  Earlier this year, the Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated opinion in Eldred v. Ashcroft, upholding the constitutionality of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (“CTEA”). The CTEA, which became effective on October 21, 1998, extended the terms of both new and existing copyrights by 20 years.
• A Fee Still Too Far: Patent Royalties Update:
  In January 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court declined an opportunity to remove a “dubious” and “out of touch” (according to the Seventh Circuit) impediment to structuring patent royalty payments by refusing certiorari in Scheiber v. Dolby Labs., Inc.

For the full story, please view the PDF.