HAROLD C. WEGNER
Partner
Foley & Lardner LLP
202.672.5571
hwegner@foley.com
Harold C. Wegner is a partner in the international law firm of Foley & Lardner LLP, where he is actively engaged in cutting edge domestic and international patent issues. Domestically, Prof. Wegner focuses upon appellate patent issues as well as reexamination and other complex matters at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Globally, Prof. Wegner crafts strategies for multinational and particularly Chinese and Japanese patent enforcement and management.
Prof. Wegner is the former director of the Intellectual Property Law Program at the George Washington University Law School, where he had been a professor of law; he continues his affiliation with George Washington as member of the Dean's Advisory Board. He has been a visiting professor at Tokyo University and spent several years as a Mitarbeiter at the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property Law in Munich followed by service as a Kenshuin at the Kyoto University Law Faculty.
Prof. Wegner holds degrees from Northwestern University (B.A.) and the Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.). He started his career as a patent examiner. In 1980 he founded his own law firm; in 1994 he merged his practice into the Foley firm.
Articles Appearing in ipFrontline™
Stauffer vs Brooks Brothers, Remanded to Determine Intention, published: 8/31/2010
Congratulations Lynne G. Beresford, Paul Salmon, published: 8/31/2010
Rethinking Mandatory 18 Month Patent Application Publication, published: 8/25/2010
Oracle vs M-Tech, published: 8/24/2010
Choking Patent Attorney Representation, published: 8/24/2010
Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling vs Maersk, published: 8/18/2010
Unilateral Surrender of the 'Grace Period', published: 8/17/2010
PTO Fee Victory, published: 8/12/2010
Adams vs Perrigo: Doctrine of Equivalents, published: 8/5/2010
An Appeal Like No Other, published: 8/3/2010
Count Reform Fails to Decrease RCE's, published: 7/29/2010
USPTO: Policing Shady Prosecution Practices, published: 7/27/2010
Do Patents Stimulate Innovation?, published: 7/21/2010
Benchmarking 20 Month Total Pendency (pdf), published: 7/19/2010
The PTO Needs More Money: Really?, published: 7/15/2010
Patent-Defeating Date Based on Provisional App Priority, published: 7/8/2010
PTO Bilski Examiner Guidance, published: 7/7/2010
Harvest Patent Reform Low Hanging Fruit, published: 6/23/2010
The PTO 'Three Tier' System: Turning Paris on Its Head, published: 6/7/2010
Congressional Patent Logjam, published: 6/3/2010
FTC-DOJ-PTO Innovation Policy Conference May 26th, published: 5/19/2010
Playing First-Inventor-to-File Chicken, published: 5/19/2010
20 Month Patents vs. 18 Month Publication, published: 5/12/2010
A 1,000,000 patent application backlog?, published: 5/7/2010
Avid Identification vs Crystal Import, published: 4/27/2010
Correlating Job Creation to Patent Backlog (PDF), published: 4/26/2010
Oddball Provisions in the “Manager's Amendment”, published: 4/19/2010
RCE 'Count' Reform: Empirical Study Urgently Needed, published: 4/15/2010
Issa Bill Would Stop the Current Flood of Qui Tam Suits, published: 4/1/2010
Promise of 12 Month Total Patent Pendency, published: 3/25/2010
Metabolite II, published: 3/12/2010
A “Driver's License” Patent, published: 3/8/2010
USPTO 20 Month Overall Patent Pendency Goal, published: 3/3/2010
Patent Reform Act of 2010: Amendment to Leahy S.515, published: 2/26/2010
Bizarre Threat of a $ 21 Trillion Judgment, published: 2/24/2010
Crocs v. ITC, published: 2/24/2010
Hyatt v. Kappos, published: 2/17/2010
SEB v. Montgomery Ward, published: 2/11/2010
Eli Lilly v. HGH, published: 2/10/2010
Patent Moot Court CLE at the Waldorf-Astoria, published: 2/8/2010
Fujifilm v. Benun: International Patent Exhaustion, published: 2/1/2010
What Does Kahn Really Say?, published: 1/26/2010
The PCT Task Force, published: 1/13/2010
Patent-Defeating of U.S. Patent with Priority to Provisional, published: 1/12/2010
Patent Reform This Year, published: 1/11/2010
Wyeth vs. Kappos, published: 1/7/2010
Green Tech Pilot - Prototype for a Major Patent Reform, published: 12/11/2009
BlackBerryGate Reexaminations, published: 12/7/2009
Encyclopedia Britannica v. Alpine, published: 12/4/2009
The Court's Best KSR Tutorial to Date, published: 12/3/2009
Plants of Indian "Traditional Knowledge" DB Not Patentable, published: 11/30/2009
Microsoft v. Lucent, published: 11/24/2009
Chief Judge Paul R. Michel to Retire, published: 11/23/2009
Need for a Single European Patent Court, published: 11/17/2009
Raising the Profile of the Court of Federal Claims, published: 11/16/2009
Issues for Another Day: Software? Medical Diagnostics?, published: 11/10/2009
Patent Prosecution Highway Seminar Nov. 10th in Tokyo, published: 10/27/2009
Post-Grant Review under The Patent Reform Act of 2009, published: 10/26/2009
Kappos' Post-Patenting A-Team, published: 10/19/2009
EPO Declares War on the Patent Prosecution Highway, published: 10/15/2009
Locke Commerce Dept Pushing Early Statutory Patent Reform, published: 10/12/2009
China Patent Roundtables Next Week, published: 10/5/2009
A New Agenda, New Directions at the PTO, published: 9/16/2009
Split 3-2 Federal Circuit Vote that "Human" is an "Animal", published: 9/9/2009
Fleshing out the Kappos PTO Leadership Team, published: 9/8/2009
Ritchie v. Vast Resources, published: 9/3/2009
Patent Community Praises New PTO Director's Directive, published: 8/26/2009
Combination Drug Patent Sustained, published: 8/26/2009
Kappos Confirmation Thursday or Friday - or after Labor Day, published: 8/4/2009
British Claim Construction, a Model of Simplicity, published: 7/29/2009
Obama IP Vacancies, published: 7/16/2009
The Tafas v Doll Rehearing En Banc PART I, published: 7/7/2009
The Tafas v Doll Rehearing En Banc PART II, published: 7/7/2009
David J. Kappos, Background of the Under Secretary Designate, published: 6/19/2009
Costs, Global Patent Filings Down, published: 6/16/2009
Ancon v. ACS: British Doctrine of Equivalents, published: 6/16/2009
Abbott vs Sandoz, published: 5/19/2009
Cochrane v Badische Anilin & Soda Fabrik Restored to Dignity, published: 5/19/2009
Credibility of the Patent Blogs, published: 5/5/2009
Patent Reform Stalls in Senate - a Silver Lining?, published: 5/5/2009
Differing Reexamination Claim Construction Regimes, published: 4/29/2009
Milestones, published: 4/27/2009
Tokyo District Court: The Most Difficult for a Patentee?, published: 4/27/2009
Second Generation Chinese Patent Sophistication, published: 4/17/2009
Blockbuster China Utility Model $ 23 Million Settlement, published: 4/15/2009
Patent Worksharing, A Critical Missing Integer, published: 4/15/2009
Patent Reform Legislation - Chances for Enactment by August?, published: 3/25/2009
The Court Strikes Down The Notorious Continuation Rules, published: 3/24/2009
Patents at D.C. Law Schools: The Good, the Bad and the Sad, published: 3/18/2009
Judicial Patent Reform in the 111th Congress (PDF), published: 3/3/2009
Affidavit Evidence to Rebut KSR Obviousness, published: 2/21/2009
2009 Patent Reform: What Will Happen?, published: 2/10/2009
FTC's Latest Reverse Payments Judicial Challenge, published: 2/9/2009
BlackBerryGate: PTO, Open your Electronic Files!, published: 2/7/2009
Kinetic Concepts: American Claim Construction, published: 2/2/2009
Prosecution Disclaimer in "Familial Patent", published: 6/27/2008
Inequitable Conduct Based on Petition to Make Special, published: 6/20/2008
Cat Tech: "Second Prong" DJ Requirement Met, published: 6/3/2008
USPTO Response to Institute for Progress Report, published: 5/28/2008
Keys to 111th Congress Patent Reform, published: 5/21/2008
Watch Out, America: China Files 700,000 Applications in 2007, published: 5/16/2008
USPTO Defeat Admitted, published: 5/7/2008
Litecubes Sales F.O.B. Canada, published: 4/29/2008
Marks Rule Applied Where Opinion Lacks Majority Support, published: 4/21/2008
The Duffy Defect, published: 4/16/2008
Lundbeck v. Generics: Chemical Claims, published: 4/14/2008
Death to the Continuation Rules, published: 4/2/2008
Counsel Obfuscates Inexperienced Judge, published: 3/20/2008
Foreign Patents for Americans, published: 3/18/2008
Festo Litigation at Age 20, published: 2/22/2008
Ethics in the Law Firm Environment, published: 2/19/2008
Seagate Willfulness: Supreme Court Conference this Wee, published: 2/19/2008
Nuijten Signal Claim, published: 2/11/2008
EPO Translations - London Agreement, published: 2/5/2008
TiVo $74,000,000.00 Verdict Against EchoStar Affirmed, published: 1/31/2008
Cybor De Novo Appellate Claim Construction (PDF), published: 1/28/2008
Can Contractual Wording Trump Patent Exhaustion?, published: 1/17/2008
A Patent-Savvy Future President?, published: 1/15/2008
Stanford v. Motorola, published: 1/15/2008
Presidential Aspirant Technology Knowledge Gap, published: 1/8/2008
Design Patent Reform: Japan v. the Egyptian Goddess, published: 12/31/2007
The New IDS Rules, published: 12/17/2007
Aristocrat Technologies: Missed Filing Dates, published: 12/13/2007
PTO's Bogese-based "Prosecution Laches" Support, published: 12/11/2007
In re Lew "New Matter" and "Possession" Requirements, published: 11/30/2007
Tafas v. Dudas "Continuation Rules" Litigation, published: 11/27/2007
Patent Worksharing Vs. A $1.6 Billion Patent Office, published: 11/12/2007
Tafas v. Dudas - Continuation Rules, published: 11/1/2007
Patent Reform Cosponsor Opposes Key Bill Provision, published: 10/31/2007
PTO Reexamination Reform, published: 10/23/2007
Paice v. Toyota, published: 10/18/2007
Patent Malpractice 'aris[e] under' §1338, published: 10/16/2007
PTO 'Continuation Rules' Chaos, published: 10/13/2007
Pro Se Inventor Nailed for Inequitable Conduct Mistakes, published: 10/11/2007
Dr Reddy's v. Lilly, published: 10/9/2007
Acts Before Patent Grant Excluded From Infringement, published: 10/4/2007
Post-Paymentech e-Business Joint Infringement, published: 10/1/2007
Mixed Verdict, Three Opinions, Injunctive Relief Sustained, published: 9/26/2007
Patent Reform - The Likeliest Scenarios, published: 9/12/2007
AFG - 11 Year Old Patent Case Reaches Supreme Court, published: 9/11/2007
Late Stage Continuing Filings: Good and Bad, published: 8/30/2007
Indian High Court Defers TRIPS Violation Question to the WTO, published: 8/9/2007
Lucent v. Microsoft, published: 8/9/2007
Patent Rendered Invalid through Grammatical Error, published: 6/25/2007
Patent Policy Leadership, published: 6/12/2007
Under Secretary Dudas' Senate Reform Testimony, published: 6/7/2007
Merck v. Integra - Celebrating Two June Anniversaries, published: 5/30/2007
Joblove Tamoxifen Citrate reverse payment ANDA, published: 5/29/2007
Pfizer v. Apotex, published: 5/22/2007
Post-Grant Review, Is the PTO up to the Task?, published: 5/10/2007
PTO Said to Leak Details of Continuation Rules, published: 5/10/2007
KSR's Worker of Ordinary Creativity, published: 5/8/2007
Continuation Rules, published: 5/5/2007
Berman H.R. 1908, Patent Reform Bill, Pronounced D.O.A., published: 4/29/2007
Innogenetics vs Abbott, published: 4/24/2007
Japanese Patents, published: 4/17/2007
International Patent Expertise: A Tale of Two Countries, published: 4/17/2007
e-Business 'Joint' Patent Infringement, published: 4/11/2007
Bleak House Patent Litigation, published: 4/11/2007
Claim Construction, published: 4/9/2007
Remarks Made by Chief Judge Paul Michel, published: 3/30/2007
Broad Construction of MedImmune 'footnote 11', published: 3/27/2007
Amgen vs Hoechst Claim Construction Certiorari Petition, published: 3/24/2007
Deliberate Choice to Forego Priority not § 251 Error, published: 3/9/2007
Transnational Patent Disputes, published: 2/13/2007
UK Patent Office Opinions: Patent Infringement and Validity, published: 2/1/2007
An Anti-eBay IP Philosophy for Strong Injunctive Relief, published: 1/31/2007
Federal Circuit Electronic Filing; Proposed New Rules (PDF), published: 1/31/2007
Licensing: MedImmune Decision Has Serious Consequenses, published: 1/12/2007
MedImmune Supreme Court Decision (PDF), published: 1/10/2007
The USPTO's 54 % Allowance Rate, published: 12/30/2006
A Symbolic End to 2006, published: 12/29/2006
Lilly vs Zenith Goldline, published: 12/26/2006
The Yahoo! Amicus Brief, published: 12/22/2006
Second Window Patent Reform; the Ghost of Maskus, published: 12/5/2006
What's Next after Thanksgiving Holidays (PDF), published: 11/23/2006
Judge Jim Rogan, Possible Road to the Federal Circuit, published: 11/22/2006
Abraxis vs Mayne Pharma (PDF), published: 11/17/2006
Issa, H.R. 5418, Patent Reform, published: 10/21/2006
How to Prove Your Possession of an Invention?, published: 10/20/2006
Figueroa: Fee Diversion Misses by One Vote, published: 10/17/2006
The Evolution of Written Description Requirement, published: 10/17/2006
Trends in Patent Practice: Will Patent Boutiques Survive?, published: 10/10/2006
Cybor De Novo Claim Construction Review, published: 9/26/2006
35 USC §101 Electrical Signal Patent-Eligibility Test Case, published: 8/9/2006
Pfizer: Dependent Claim Violation as Basis for Invalidity, published: 8/3/2006
A Foreign Square Peg in a Domestic Round Hole (PDF), published: 7/18/2006
Momentus Golf: Troubled American Claim Construction, published: 7/1/2006
Supreme Court Patents, Finished for Term, published: 6/27/2006
Metabolite Patent Piñata Does Not Burst, published: 6/22/2006
Continuation Rules Moving Ahead, published: 6/20/2006
BlackBerryGate, published: 6/9/2006
Court Update: Merck, Metabolite, KSR, SmithKline etc., published: 6/3/2006
Schering-Plough Today, or Tamoxifen Citrate Tomorrow, published: 5/23/2006
Microsoft Monday, published: 4/24/2006
The Motivation Test: Death by Deuel (PDF), published: 4/14/2006
Limiting the Scope of E-Business Patents (PDF), published: 4/6/2006
Bourdeau: Gray Market Trademark Protected Goods, published: 4/1/2006
Pre-Order Reexamination Patentee Pleadings (PDF), published: 4/1/2006
New from the Patent Office, published: 4/1/2006
A Tale of Two Courts, published: 3/22/2006
Claim Interpretation - Reading Limitations into the Claims, published: 3/21/2006
Illinois Tool vs Independent Ink, published: 3/2/2006
Judges Are Not Like Pigs, Hunting For Truffles, published: 2/27/2006
TRIPS Up in Smoke (PDF), published: 2/24/2006
Microsoft vs AT&T, published: 2/24/2006
Domestic Discovery for Foreign Patent Infringement Actions, published: 2/23/2006
Four Supreme Court Patent Cases, published: 2/16/2006
The PTO Comes to Berkeley February 28th, published: 2/14/2006
Injunctive Relief: A Charming Betsy Boomerang, PDF, published: 2/3/2006
Purdue vs Endo, published: 2/3/2006
The Patent Bleak House, published: 1/31/2006
(1) Formalities Leniency/Harshness; (2) Fed Circuit Vacancy, published: 1/30/2006
BlackBerry Cert. Petition Denied, published: 1/23/2006
Update on Pending Cases, published: 1/20/2006
Euro-'Metabolite', published: 1/17/2006
Globalization Hits Patent Law, published: 1/17/2006
Union Carbide Chemicals, published: 1/10/2006
Supreme Court Top Ten List, published: 1/9/2006
nCube vs Seachange, published: 1/9/2006
Sub silentio Repudiation of Phillips Claim Construction, published: 1/6/2006
RIM - Badmouthing the American Patent System, published: 12/28/2005
eBay 'Charming Betsy' Issue, published: 12/28/2005
PTO Proactive Stance on Patent-Eligibility, published: 12/21/2005
Exhaustion of the Priority Right at the EPO, published: 12/20/2005
BlackBerry Extraterritoriality Case, published: 12/16/2005
Supreme Court Patent Top Ten List, published: 12/13/2005
Five Supreme Court Patent Decisions in 2007, published: 12/9/2005
Supreme Court Unitherm Decision – This Week(?), published: 12/6/2005
The PTO Needs 'Patent Worksharing', published: 12/2/2005
Top Ten Supreme Court Patent Cases, published: 11/28/2005
Lemelson! On the Road to the Supreme Court in 2006, published: 11/18/2005
Top Ten Supreme Court Patent Cases, published: 11/11/2005
The Metabolite Supreme Court Patent-Eligibility Case, published: 11/4/2005
Seismic Supreme Court Halloween Patent Activity, published: 11/1/2005
Two Law Reviews from Silicon Valley, published: 10/18/2005
Phillips Claim Construction - Nothing Unexpected, published: 7/14/2005
The Content Providers' Narrow Victory, published: 6/28/2005
Grokster Is Coming!, published: 6/24/2005
Top Ten Pending Patent Cases, published: 6/20/2005
Merck vs Integra, published: 6/16/2005
