USPTO rules decision [US DC] News
USPTO rules decision [US DC]

Triantafyllos Tafas v. Jon W. Dudas, US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, April 1, 2008 [rejecting new US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rules that would have retroactively limited the number of claims that can be included in a patent application and the number of times a continuation application can be filed for a given invention]. Read the full text of the memorandum opinion [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

First gay civil union law goes into effect

On October 1, 1989, the Registered Partnership Act went into effect in Denmark. It was the first law in the world that allowed civil unions between homosexual couples. Read a report on the world's first civil unions from the New York Times.

Chief Justice Rehnquist born

On October 1, 1924, William Rehnquist, late Chief Justice of the United States, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Read remarks by President Ronald Reagan at the swearing-in ceremony for Chief Justice Rehnquist (joined by new Associate Justice Antonin Scalia).