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Patent Ruling Shows a Minor Typo Can Lead to a Major Loss

Members Christina Sperry and Kevin Amendt, along with Summer Associate Sam Cohen, wrote a Law360 article about the dismissal of patent infringement claims in SIPCO LLC v. Jasco Products Company LLC due to a typo made by the US Patent and Trademark Office during prosecution. The authors discuss the major consequences that a minor mistake like this can have and how to avoid it. 

The authors write, “Although this circumstance is likely a rare corner case, more practically the outcome here dramatically underscores the importance of attention to detail in prosecution — even seemingly minor mistakes can have catastrophic consequences for the patent owner. Here, one transposed digit in a patent number torpedoed 20 years of protection and stripped a market participant of important exclusive rights over competitors.”

Source

Law360