Chinta & Fratangelo LLP

Stanford v. Roche – When is an assignment not an assignment?

This case was a dispute over conflicting assignments by an inventor to Stanford and a private lab where he did supporting work. When infringement litigation erupted between the parties, the defendant asserted it was a co-owner so the plaintiff had no standing to sue. The underlying research was federally funded, and Stanford asserted that the …

Standing to sue: Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Scientific Research v. Cochlear Corp.

In Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Scientific Research v. Cochlear Corp., No. 2009-1447 (Fed. Cir. 5/14/2010) the issue was whether a patent licensor had standing to sue.  The Mann Foundation (AMF) licensed US 5609616 and US5938691, both pertaining to cochlear implants for the treatment of hearing loss, to a firm called Advanced Bionics (AB) in …