Innovations involving artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) are being developed at an ever-accelerating pace. For example, as illustrated in Figure 1, the number of patent applications published by the United...more
Functional Language in Device Claim Ignored for Patentability Purposes -
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board recently issued a decision indicating that certain claims of a patent directed to...more
Federal Circuit Reverses Board in Two IPR Decisions -
In International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) v. Iancu, the Federal Circuit found that the Board's interpretation of key claim limitations was incorrect resulting in...more
Software Claims Survive Section 101 Challenge and Are Found to Be Directed to Patent-Eligible Subject Matter -
In the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) recently designated its...more
Nobel Biocare Services AG appealed from the decision of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board in an inter partes review (IPR) holding claims 1–5 and 19 of U.S. Patent No. 8,714,977 invalid based...more
Zheng Cai DBA Tai Chi Green Tea Inc. appealed an opinion of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) cancelling registration of his mark "WU DANG TAI CHI GREEN TEA" due to a likelihood of...more
On August 8, 2018, Director Iancu issued a letter to the Patent Public Advisory Committee notifying of proposed fee increases at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and institution of new annual fee for active patent...more
Telecommunication Call Processing System Held to Be Eligible for Covered Business Method (CBM) Patent Review -
On August 3, 2017, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a decision...more
On July 27, 2017, the Federal Circuit issued an opinion in Audatex North America, Inc. v. Mitchell International, Inc., upholding the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board's (PTAB) decision in which...more
Acting as Lexicographers Saves Patent from Being Found Invalid -
In a recent Federal Circuit decision, the Court highlighted an old rule in that the inventors may act as their own lexicographers to create a claim term and...more
In 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“AIA”) established new post-issuance procedures for challenging the validity of a granted patent before the Patent Trials and Appeal Board (“PTAB” or “Board”). Inter partes...more
3/22/2017
/ America Invents Act ,
Covered Business Method Patents ,
Covered Business Method Proceedings ,
Estoppel ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Jurisdiction ,
Patent Agent Privilege ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
In 1998, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc., which upheld the patentability of business methods in the United States. Since...more
Federal Circuit Finds That USPTO Board Interpreted CBM Statute Too Broadly -
In an appeal of a Covered Business Method (CBM) patent review, the Federal Circuit overturned a decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark...more
USPTO's Conclusion of Obviousness Rendered Primary Reference Unsatisfactory for Intended Purpose -
In a nonprecedential opinion, the Federal Circuit vacated a decision by the Board and remanded the case on appeal from...more
"Intuitive" to Combine Insufficient to Support Obviousness Rejection -
The Federal Circuit recently issued a decision in an appeal from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board in a case...more
Second CBM Petition Denied As "Second Bite at the Apple" -
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued a decision denying institution of a covered business method (CBM) patent review in a...more
In a nonprecedential opinion issued earlier today, the Federal Circuit invalidated claims under 35 U.S.C. § 101 that had survived the District Court in LendingTree, LLC, v. Zillow, Inc., Nextag, Inc., & Adchemy, Inc. This...more
7/26/2016
/ Abstract Ideas ,
Applications ,
Inventors ,
LendingTree ,
Loans ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Reversal ,
Section 101 ,
Software Patents ,
USPTO ,
Zillow
Pre-AIA and Post-AIA Issues Presented by the On-Sale Bar -
The “on-sale” bar to patentability refers to a sale or offer for sale of an invention that can invalidate the patent for that invention. The...more
6/7/2016
/ aBLA ,
Amended Regulation ,
America Invents Act ,
Amgen ,
Apotex ,
Appeals ,
Biosimilars ,
BPCIA ,
Commercial Marketing ,
Community Trademark ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
EU ,
Filing Fees ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Generic Drugs ,
Inventions ,
Notice Requirements ,
On-Sale Bar ,
Patent Dance ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Popular ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Prior Art ,
Public Use ,
Renewal Fees ,
Sandoz ,
Sandoz v Amgen ,
Trademark Registration ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) ,
USPTO
The “on-sale” bar to patentability refers to a sale or offer for sale of an invention that can invalidate the patent for that invention. The America-Invents-Act (AIA), which altered the language in the statutes that apply to...more
Directory Assistance Call Completion Is Not A Financial Service for CBM Purposes -
On May 4, 2016, the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a decision denying institution of a Covered Business Method (CBM)...more
PTAB Not Bound by Prior District Court Ruling on § 101 -
On March 30, 2016, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a Final Written Decision in a case captioned Samsung...more
U.S. Patent to Database for Protecting Formula for Coca-Cola Found Invalid under CBM Review -
On March 2, 2016, the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a final written decision in the Covered Business...more
On March 1, 2016, the Federal Circuit issued an opinion in a number of related appeals between Blue Calypso, LLC and Groupon, Inc. These related appeals arise from five Covered Business Method (CBM) reviews of five patents...more
Most software or computer-related patent applications today include a number of different types of claims, such as method claims, device claims, and computer-readable medium (CRM) claims. Such CRM claims are usually directed...more
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has likely seen an increase in the number of appealed rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 101 due to the Supreme Court's decision in Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v....more