DIPLA NEWS Volume 6, Issue 6, June 2004 Next Meeting - Annual Meeting Our next meeting will be held on Friday, June 11, 2004 at the Engineers Club of Dayton. We will be electing next year’s officers and discussing options for next year’s speakers and topics. For directions to the club see www.engineersclub.org. An annual dues increase was approved at our previous meeting. Annual dues for the 2004-2005 associate year will be $135. Lunch will be served at 11:30. Due to a year-end budget shortfall, all members attending will be required to pay for their own lunch - $15.00. Please contact Tom Lees prior to the day of the luncheon at thomas.lees@speakeasy.net for reservations. Recent Developments - No Progress Towards European Community Patent Ministers at the Council of the European Union recently voted against a measure that would have moved towards creation of a European “Community Patent.” Shorter Pendency for Unpublished Patent Applications - According to a May 2004 report to congressional committees, the U.S. Patent Office took about 5 months longer to issue patents that had been published than those that had not. According to agency officials, the difference occurs primarily because examiners sometimes complete their review and decide to issue a patent in fewer than 18 months. In these cases, the patent office does not publish the application because the issued patent will itself be published and become public information. As a result, the median length of time for unpublished patents is less. Update on USPTO Fee Bill - On Monday, May 3rd, the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed the bill that would raise fees for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and end the diversion of fees to other programs. However, the bill is currently facing resistance from senate appropriators who object to a provision that designed to stop the appropriators’ diversion of fee revenue to other government programs. Hewlett-Packard and Gateway Exchange Blows - In early May it was reported that Gateway Inc. sue Hewlett-Packard Co. alleging H-P is violating five Gateway patents. H-P had previously filed a patent infringement suit against Gateway in March. In an unrelated action, Gateway has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a patent suit brought by Integraph. Thus far, the patent at issue has reportedly brought Integraph licensing agreements of more than $250 million. Setback for Xerox in Infringement Suit vs. palmOne Inc.- A New York State judge has sided with handheld computer maker palmOne Inc. in its patent infringement battle with Xerox Corp., ruling that Xerox's handwriting recognition software patent is invalid. Xerox had previously won several rulings related to the case, and vowed to appeal it further. DIPLA Officers President - Paul Martin, Esq. First Vice President - Matthew R. Jenkins, Esq. Second Vice President - Kimberly Gambrel, Esq. Secretary - James E. Beyer, Esq. Treasurer - Thomas E. Lees, Esq. Past President - Fredric L. Sinder, Esq.