Lawyer Article
First-to-File and Choice-of-Forum Roots Run Too Deep for Micron to Curb Most Races to the Courthouse
October 7, 2008
The following article appears in the August 2008 issue of the Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society. Republished with permission.
Article Notes: Mike Cicero, an IP Litigation attorney in the Atlanta office, authored a 50-page manuscript that has just been published as the lead article in the August 2008 issue of the Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society ("JPTOS"), a recognized nationwide journal devoted to discussions of topics relating to patent, trademark, and copyright law. The article discusses a recent Federal Circuit decision against a historical backdrop tracing the development of the "First-to-File Rule," a rule that helps to determine which of two courts will handle duplicative cases filed in two different places.
The article asserts that given the legal history of the Rule, "races to the courthouse" in patent cases will, at least for now, continue largely unabated, despite the Federal Circuit's stated goal of reducing them. Flow charts detailing the procedural steps for courts to take in resolving patent venue battles, under both the old and the new legal regimes, complement the article text. Written with input from fellow Atlanta IP Litigation attorney Kirk Watkins, this is Mike's second JPTOS publication. He had co-authored a September 2007 JPTOS publication with IP Transaction Attorney Jennifer L. Collins, of the Raleigh office.
Click here to read the new article (pdf format).
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