Safraz Ishmael

Photo of Safraz Ishmael
Firm/Organization: Proskauer Rose LLP
Blogs: Blockchain and the Law, New England IP Blog

Latest Articles

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Massachusetts is home to one of America’s chief innovation hubs. Yet, historically, the District of Massachusetts has seen relatively few patent cases when compared to other high-tech venues around the country. While there are several reasons that may explain this dearth of patent cases, factors many have pointed to include that a large number of patent cases filed in the district ended up taking 3 or more years to reach trial. Additionally, patent case schedules…
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Some call it the patent death squad. Others laud it as a powerful weapon in the battle against patent trolls. Whatever one’s opinion on the matter, the Supreme Court yesterday found that the U.S. Patent Office’s inter partes review (“IPR”) proceeding, a process that can invalidate patents many years after they issue, does not violate Article III of the Constitution. The case was brought to the Supreme Court by Oil States Energy Services, LLC, an oilfield…
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Last year’s spike in the valuation of bitcoin has much of the technology world focused on blockchain, the distributed database ledger technology behind bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies.  Lost behind the scenes, however, is a rush by some in the industry to patent inventions relating to the blockchain technology itself.  These moves come with controversy in an industry known for its culture of open-source practices.…
Last year’s spike in the valuation of bitcoin has much of the technology world focused on blockchain, the distributed database ledger technology behind bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies.  Lost behind the scenes, however, is a rush by some in the industry to patent inventions relating to the blockchain technology itself.  These moves come with controversy in an industry known for its culture of open-source practices.…
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The supply from the United States of a single component of an invention, for assembly of the invention abroad, is not patent infringement under Section 271(f)(1) of the Patent Act. This is according to a unanimous ruling yesterday by the United States Supreme Court. The court found significant limitations on the reach of Section 271(f)(1), a law that states that it is an act of patent infringement to supply from the United States, “all or a substantial portion…
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Rather than wait around for the hammer to fall, companies under threat of an intellectual property lawsuit sometimes choose to file a declaratory judgment complaint. Such “DJ” complaints usually ask the court to clear the air and decide the issue in the filer’s favor. Declaratory judgment filers are often motivated by the fact that they can choose the court that resolves the lawsuit. Simoniz USA, Inc. (“Simoniz”), a company that sells cleaning products, filed such a…
In a recent patent appeal involving a Boston-based mobile payment startup, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit signaled its reluctance to disturb district courts’ discretion in fee shifting decisions. The Federal Circuit affirmed, without a written opinion, the District of Massachusetts’ decision denying LevelUp an award of attorneys’ fees, even though LevelUp had won summary judgment of non-infringement at the initial pleading stage of the litigation.  The litigation was against an individual plaintiff named Jack Barron. …
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court yesterday affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a legal malpractice suit finding that, “simultaneous representation by a law firm in the prosecution of patents for two clients competing in the same technology area for similar inventions is not a per se violation,” of certain Massachusetts attorney professional conduct rules. The case was brought by Chris Maling, who hired patent prosecuting attorneys at Finnegan Henderson to prosecute a set of patent…
We wish to express our congratulations to Proskauer’s appellate litigator Mark Harris, who spearheaded a significant patent litigation victory on April 27 when the Federal Circuit reaffirmed a decision vacated by the Supreme Court, ruling in favor of Biosig Instruments in what is now the leading case concerning whether patent claims are invalid as indefinite. The Am Law Litigation Daily recognized the achievement by naming Mark its “Litigator of the Week” on April 30.…
Novartis came one step closer to becoming the first company to offer a biosimilar drug for sale in the United States. Last month, an independent panel voted 14-0 to recommend FDA approval of Sandoz’s (Novartis’ generics division) application for its proposed ZarxioTM cancer drug – a generic version of Amgen’s patented Neupogen®. The decision is noteworthy because it makes ZarxioTM the first product to go through the alternative FDA approval pathway for biosimilars provided by…