News & Analysis as of September 26, 2024

Software Patents

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Patent-Eligible Subject Matter refers to the types of inventions that can be legally patented. The criteria for patentability varies depending on the jurisdiction. In the United States, for instance, if a researcher discovers a naturally occurring substance, the substance itself cannot be patented. This issue was examined in a United States Supreme Court case, AMP v. Myriad, in regard to the patentability of human genes. less -

Patent Protection for Entertainment Software Inventions

Lewis Roca on 11/29/2022

Innovators seeking patent protection for entertainment software inventions should be aware that all software inventions face patent-eligibility issues. Nevertheless, patent practitioners who are experienced in the art of...more

D. Ariz.: Exchanging Geographic and Demographic Data is not Patent Eligible under Section 101

Holland & Knight LLP on 12/1/2021

In the case USADATA Inc. v. DataWidget LLC, No. CV-21-00526-PHX-DLR, 2021 WL 5084283 (D. Ariz. Nov. 1, 2021), the patent at issue is titled, "System and Method for Selling Customer-Specific Data Subsets on a Third-Party...more

Dear Patenticity: Worried About Alice

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC on 11/18/2021

Dear Patenticity, My startup is working on what we believe is a game-changing software application and we are concerned about others taking our idea and fielding a competitive product based on our work. We would like to...more

Will There Be a Legislative Push to Reform Patent Eligibility Requirements During the Biden Administration?

Kilpatrick on 3/15/2021

On March 5, 2021, bipartisan members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Senators Tillis (R-NC), Hirono (D-HI), Cotton (R-AR) and Coons (D-DE), sent a letter to the USPTO’s...more

Simio, LLC v. FlexSim Software Products, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2020)

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP on 12/30/2020

This decision is bad. Not an American Axle level of bad, but still quite far from good. Simio sued FlexSim in the District of Utah for alleged infringement of its U.S. Patent No. 8,156,468. FlexSim moved for dismissal on...more

On the Patent Eligibility of Graphical User Interfaces: Part I

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP on 11/9/2020

The evolution of graphical user interfaces parallels the evolution of computing technology itself. As computers grow more powerful and sophisticated, so does their ability to display cutting-edge representations of...more

Issues to Consider before Asserting a Software Patent

Blank Rome LLP on 9/8/2020

Software patents have garnered a lot of attention in recent years due, at least in part, to the proliferation of software-enabled devices, such as smartphones and tablets, and the use of software to control a range of devices...more

Patent Prosecution Tool Kit: Update on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility & Abstract Ideas

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. on 7/17/2020

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Alice v. CLS Bank, patent stakeholders have faced many difficulties navigating the world of patent-eligibility. Through many Federal Circuit decisions and Guidance given by the U.S....more

Prior Judicial Rulings Unrelated to Patent Eligibility Inconsequential to Federal Circuit Section 101 Analysis

Holland & Knight LLP on 6/11/2020

WhitServe LLC asserted two patents against Donuts Inc., both of which claimed systems and methods by which providers of professional services, using the internet, could send reminders to clients and obtain responses from...more

Barbaro Technologies, LLC v. Niantic, Inc. (N.D. Cal. 2020)

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP on 5/29/2020

Claims for an Interactive 3D Virtual Environment Found Patent Ineligible - In the field of computer gaming, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recently granted Defendants' Rule 12 motion...more

Done at Step 1: When a Claim Is Tied to an Improvement, No Need to Proceed to Alice Step 2

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 5/12/2020

By reversing the lower court’s ruling that the asserted claims were not patent-eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101 in Uniloc v. LG Electronics, the Federal Circuit resurrected Uniloc’s infringement suit against LG Electronics. It...more

Federal Circuit: Improvements Inherent to Using a Computer, Such as Improved Speed and Efficiency, Do Not Transform an Abstract...

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on 3/18/2020

In deciding patent eligibility of computer-implemented claims, courts consider whether the claims merely implement a generic computer or whether they improve the functioning of the computer itself. The Federal Circuit...more

Federal Circuit: Complexity Does Not Necessarily Impart Section 101 Patentability

Holland & Knight LLP on 12/16/2019

Earlier this week, the Federal Circuit reviewed a PTAB affirming the examiner’s rejection of claims directed to a computer-conducted method of "assigning and managing the rights to receive taxes when amounts are disbursed...more

Federal Court Relies on PTAB Findings in Denying Section 101 Summary Judgment Motion

Jones Day on 9/4/2019

Despite the prohibition on patenting “abstract ideas” and the tendency of computer software claims to fall into that category, claims directed at improving faulty software systems may still be patentable if they encompass an...more

E.D. North Carolina Axes Patent Directed to Teaching Guitar

Holland & Knight LLP on 8/16/2019

Rocksmith sued Yousician Oy, alleging infringement of its patent entitled "interactive guitar game." The patent discloses software for learning to play the guitar and provides an "effective way to provide interactive method...more

Congress Sets The Stage To Expand Patent Eligibility For Computer-implemented Inventions

Troutman Pepper on 7/30/2019

Senators from both sides of the aisle expect to introduce a final bill this summer that could significantly improve the prospects for patent applicants with software and business method inventions. Congress recently held...more

Game Over: Multiplayer Gaming Patent Found to be an Abstract Idea

Holland & Knight LLP on 6/27/2019

Judge Maryellen Noreika (D. Delaware) has been very active since receiving her judicial commission less than a year ago, including already issuing a handful of Section 101 opinions. In Sandbox Software v. 18Birdies, she holds...more

Patenting Software: A Case Study in Overcoming Alice

Fish & Richardson on 5/13/2019

In 2014, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, et al., 573 U.S. 208, which significantly altered the patentability of software, business methods,...more

Latest Federal Court Cases - March 2019 #4

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC on 3/26/2019

SRI Int’l, Inc. v. Cisco Sys., Inc., Appeal No. 2017-2223 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 20, 2019) - In a decision following trial, the Federal Circuit addressed the issue of the eligibility of patent claims directed to technology meant...more

Sri International, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc.

Knobbe Martens on 3/26/2019

Federal Circuit Summary - Before Lourie, O’Malley, and Stoll. Appeal from District of Delaware. Summary: Under step one of Alice, a claim is not directed to an abstract idea when it recites a specific technique to...more

January 2019 IP Update - The Federal Circuit Refines the Post-Alice Landscape, Holding Spreadsheet Tabs Patent-Eligible

Sunstein LLP on 2/6/2019

In Data Engine Technologies LLC v. Google LLC, holding patent-eligible a spreadsheet provided with tabs to facilitate navigation, the Federal Circuit continued, in late 2018, to refine the law of patent eligibility of...more

Big Picture on Software Patent Eligibility: The Forces at Work

Knobbe Martens on 1/29/2019

Much of the modern economy is driven by software development. Companies are creating and refining new apps that run on mobile devices, and using machine learning to provide users with personalized user interfaces and...more

Software Patents Get a Lifeline

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C. on 1/22/2019

Recent USPTO Guidance Offers Insight for Software Patent Eligibility - By now most of you have probably heard that "software patents" and "software patent applications" have had a rough time for the past 4 ½ years. Some of...more

Battling Boredom While Building Virtual Cities: PTAB Denies Claims as Patent-Ineligible

Jones Day on 1/17/2019

Video game companies occasionally will take to the PTAB, seeking to invalidate each other’s patents. Mobile game developer Supercell Oy (petitioner) filed a Post Grant Review (“PGR) after learning that the USPTO issued U.S....more

USPTO Clarifies Alice/Mayo Step 2A With New Patent Subject-Matter Eligibility Guidance

K&L Gates LLP on 1/11/2019

For the last several years, a major part of prosecuting software-related patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has been dealing with the USPTO’s inconsistent interpretation of patent subject-matter...more

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Patent-Eligible Subject Matter › Computer-Related Inventions › Software Patents

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