Patently-O Bits and Bytes No. 48

• Judy Jarecki-Black from Merial Limited has been named the "Best Chief IP Counsel" by 2008" by Global Counsel Awards 2008. Glacéau was awarded the "Best IP Counsel Team." [LINK]
• Eastern District of Texas Settlement: SAP agrees to pay $83 million to i2 Technologies. [LINK] In what appears to be primarily a trade secret case, Oracle is seeking $1 billion in damages from SAP. (Oracle's no-patent strategy may prove successful).
• Shen Wei v. Ansell Health Care (N.D. Ill 2008) (Claim Construction Issue Preclusion): The patentee lost a claim construction argument in earlier litigation against another party. In this case, Judge Guzman held that the patentee could not re-argue the construction based on collateral estoppels / issue preclusion. [LINK]
• BPAI Constitutionality Problem: Representative Berman has introduced H.R. 6362 to fix the BPAI judge appointment problem by returning the duty of appointment to the "Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office."
• No Double Secret Expedited Reexamination: In Reexamination No. 95/008,972 the PTO recently refused to give any preferential or speedy treatment of the reexamination despite pending litigation. [LINK]