Intellectual Property › Civil Procedure › Science, Computers & Technology

CLS Bank v. Alice Corp. Further Muddies §101 Patent Eligibility

On May 10, 2013, the Federal Circuit issued deeply divided opinions on the standards to be applied to determine patent eligibility of software and business method patents, further opening the door to challenges of such...more

Court Report Supplement -- May 16, 2013

About Court Report Supplement: Periodically, we will report on biotech and pharma cases that were inadvertently omitted from our Court Report column. Tawnsaura Group, LLC v. Direct Digital, LLCL: 8:13-cv-00004; filed...more

CLS Bank: A Deeply Divided En Banc Federal Circuit Fails to Rule When Computer Claims are Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101

On May 10, 2013, the en banc Federal Circuit issued its highly anticipated decision in CLS Bank Int’l v. Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd., No. 2011-1301, concerning whether computer-implemented method and system claims are patent...more

CLS Bank Int'l v. Alice Corp. (Fed. Cir. 2013) (en banc) -- Judge Lourie's Concurrence

On May 10, the Federal Circuit handed down a much anticipated en banc ruling regarding the patent eligibility of computer-implemented inventions under 35 U.S.C. § 101. In a per curiam opinion that is perhaps the most...more

Patent Watch: Motiva, LLC. v. Int'l Trade Comm'n

The "Commission is fundamentally a trade forum, not an intellectual property forum" [and] litigation expenses directed at preventing, instead of encouraging manufacture of, articles incorporating patented technology does not...more

Patent Watch: CLS Bank Int'l v. Alice Corp.

[T]hough much is published today discussing the proper approach to the patent eligibility inquiry, nothing said today beyond our judgment has the weight of precedent....more

Federal Circuit Issues Decision on Section 101 Patent Eligibility of Computer-Implemented Inventions

On May 10, 2013, the Federal Circuit issued its en banc decision in CLS Bank Int’l v. Alice Corp. (Case No. 2011-1301), a closely watched dispute regarding the standard for patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The per...more

En Banc Federal Circuit Issues Five Opinions in CLS Bank International v. Alice Corporation

The long-awaited decision held that method, computer-readable medium and system claims for technology related to “the management of risk relating to specified, yet unknown, future events” were not directed to patentable...more

If Patented Technology Can Copy Itself, When Do Patent Rights Cease?

Patent rights in a patented self-replicating technology, such as seeds, continue until the patent term is ended and not before. On May 13, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bowman v. Monsanto that the patent rights in seeds are...more

Patent Exhaustion Doctrine Does Not Protect Farmers Who Replant Patented Seeds

In a brief, unanimous opinion written by Justice Kagan, the Supreme Court yesterday agreed with Monsanto that the patent exhaustion doctrine does not enable farmers to replant and reproduce patented seeds without the...more

Patent Watch: Bowman v. Monsanto Co.

On May 13, 2013, in Bowman v. Monsanto Co., the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Federal Circuit's affirmance of the district court's judgment that Bowman infringed U.S. Patents No. 5,352,605 and No. RE39,247, which related to...more

Bowman v. Monsanto: Crisis Averted on IP Protection for Self-Replicating Technologies

Life science companies in general (and seed companies in particular) are breathing a sigh of relief following the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday in Bowman v. Monsanto. As Bowman wended its way through district...more

Bowman v. Monsanto Co. (2013)

Today, in Bowman v. Monsanto Co., the Supreme Court determined that the doctrine of patent exhaustion did not permit a farmer who buys patented seeds to repro­duce them through planting and harvesting without the patent...more

Federal Circuit Fails to Set Clear Standard for Patent Eligibility

In an opinion that was poised to set a single standard governing the patent eligibility of computer-implemented inventions, no majority is reached....more

En Banc Decision in CLS Bank: No Clear Resolution for Eligibility of Computer-Related Inventions

On May 10, 2013, the Federal Circuit, sitting en banc,1 issued a per curiam decision in CLS Bank International v. Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd., No. 2011-1301, affirming that the asserted method, computer-readable media, and...more

A Fractured Federal Circuit Creates More Questions Than Answers: CLS Bank Int’l v. Alice Corp., No. 2011-1301

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its en banc decision in CLS Bank Int’l v. Alice Corp. The decision includes seven separate opinions spanning 135 pages, but the only precedential portion...more

Court Report - May 12, 2013

About Court Report: Each week we will report briefly on recently filed biotech and pharma cases. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Genentech, Inc. et al. 3:13-cv-02045; filed May 3, 2013 in the Northern District of...more

Federal Circuit Issues Fractured Affirmance in CLS Bank v. Alice Corporation

In a fractured en banc decision, the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s holding that the claims at issue in CLS Bank v. Alice Corporation are invalid under 35 USC § 101. The multiple opinions reveal the judge’s...more

Bowman v. Monsanto

Supreme Court Ruling on Patent Rights of Self-Replicating Technology

Full text copy of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bowman v. Monsanto Co. et al that Monsanto’s patent rights extend to future generations of its patented seeds. From Joe Barnes at the Washington Post: “Farmers must pay...more

Advertising News & Analysis - May 9, 2013

In this issue: - Product Demonstrations Deliver Reward…and Risk - Sometimes the Claim is in the Eye of the Beholder - Viacom v. YouTube Decision Maintains DMCA Safe Harbor for Video Site - TCPA...more

Patent Watch: Baron Servs., Inc. v. Media Weather Innovations, LLC

On May 7, 2013, in Baron Servs., Inc. v. Media Weather Innovations, LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Dyk, Reyna, Prost*) vacated and remanded the district court's summary judgment that MWI did not...more

A First for FRAND: Federal Court in Microsoft v. Motorola Sets FRAND Royalty Rates for Standard Essential Patents

Microsoft v. Motorola developed a framework for courts to assess fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms for standard-essential patents. Its roadmap and analysis will probably influence future FRAND cases in...more

Patent Watch: Allergan, Inc. v. Sandoz Inc.

On May 1, 2013, in Allergan, Inc. v. Sandoz Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Dyk, Prost,* O'Malley) affirmed-in-part and reversed-in-part the district court's judgment that U.S. Patents No. 7,642,258,...more

Federal Circuit Upholds One Claim Covering Combigan

In Allergan, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc., the Federal Circuit reversed the district court in part, finding that Allergan’s composition claims and most of its method claims are invalid as obvious, but upholding one method claim...more

Rubin v. General Hospital Corp. (Fed. Cir. 2013)

On March 28, the Federal Circuit in Rubin v. General Hospital Corp. affirmed judgment by the District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissing the suit brought by Drs. Berish Rubin and Sylvia Anderson against The...more