In the last few years, the U.S. Copyright Office refused to allow a copyright registration for a work of art created by a machine, and a federal district court held that an artificial intelligence system could not be an...more
The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals recently tangled with a patent application for an invention that did not have scientific support. The court affirmed a decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board rejecting a patent...more
One of the requirements for obtaining a patent is the written description requirement – the specification must include a written description of the invention. 35 U.S.C §112(a). This requirement means that the specification...more
When a new invention is created (if it is worth anything), everyone wants to take credit. Figuring out whose “baby” it is, is a difficult question.
What is an inventor? Who is the inventor? One would think these questions...more
There is no federal court jurisdiction for disputes involving patents where the claimant does not actually own the patents. The possibility that one might own a patent, if a contingent future event occurs, is not enough. This...more
My last column was the first of two columns discussing some of the most common misconceptions or myths about patents. Here is the second part, starting with number five on my list.
A Patent Does Not Give the Patent Owner...more
Because it’s summertime, I thought we should take a break from “serious” intellectual property articles. So, instead, here are some patented inventions that you might see this summer.
A baseball with a speedometer seems...more
The last time I checked (which was a couple of years ago), I found over 900 U.S. patents in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s database that had the word “Christmas” in the title. Every year at this time, I look at a few...more
The holidays are upon us. Given that everything seems to be protected by intellectual property rights, could someone protect Christmas?
The most likely candidate to try to patent Christmas would be Santa Claus. But...more