Standing BearSnares

Patent law features so many traps that even the wary fall in one now and then. It happened again last week. This time the ruling concerned standing, an issue that goes to the power of a court to decide a case.

A narrow license

The case involved a patent on "Gelatinous Elastomer Compositions and

You'd think that a corporation would have to have some gall if it sued its officers and directors for prolonging its life.

Even if they defrauded lenders out of the money that kept the firm chugging far past the point of genuine insolvency.

Does the situation change if the company ends up in chapter 11 and the bankruptcy

Doing things out of proper sequence can require a do-over.  But in law, as elsewhere, the do-over may come too late. 

Just ask Abraxis, a drug maker that today lost a lawsuit because the company it bought patents from didn't own them at the time.

Abraxis signed an Asset Purchase Agreement with AstraZeneca in April 2006. 

Blawgletter recalls early on hearing about "the bow tie rule".  People who wear bow ties, the rule supposes, want to stand out.  They regard themselves as unique.  They desire others to see visible proof of their disdain for norms, wardrobe-wise and otherwise.  And you don't want them on your jury.  They'll tend to disagree with other