The Federal Circuit has now had enough opportunity to address Mayo’s “well-understood, routine, conventional” test that we should have a good understanding of it. We don’t (or at least I don’t).
...more
In reading post-Mayo/Alice decisions, some seem more comfortable than others. I’ve been having a tough time getting my head and heart around a recent decision from Judge Leonard Stark of the District of Delaware. The case is...more
3/15/2018
/ Abstract Ideas ,
Auto Parts ,
Bilski ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Section 101
Crowdsourced Content in Video Games: How Ownership Issues Almost “Ganked” a Copyright Case -
In Blizzard Entertainment v. Lilith Games (Shanghai) Company, a federal court denied a motion for partial summary judgment for...more
1/5/2018
/ Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Crowdsourcing ,
Domain Names ,
Foreign Jurisdictions ,
Gaming ,
Genericide ,
Google ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Life Technologies Corp v Promega Corp ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Video Games
I was reminded of this question, often posed by my dad to remind me not to become a slave to statistics, by two dramatic things that happened last week. On the one hand, at the IAM 2017 Patent Law and Policy conference in...more
A Smooth Patch in a Rough Road? Governmental Transition and Intellectual Property -
Whenever a new Congress convenes, some IP issues come to the fore while others take a back seat. Transition to a new administration in the...more
2/10/2017
/ Administrative Appointments ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Article III ,
Barack Obama ,
Cheerleaders ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Office ,
Data Breach ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Disparagement ,
DMCA ,
Exclusive Licenses ,
Fashion Design ,
FDCPA ,
File Sharing ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Google ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
IP License ,
Lanham Act ,
Lee v Tam ,
Lenz v Universal Music Corp. ,
Misappropriation ,
Non-Appealable Decisions ,
Non-Practicing Entities ,
Online Videos ,
Oracle ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 337 ,
Software Developers ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Star Athletica v Varsity Brands ,
Takedown Notices ,
Tariff Act of 1930 ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
Trans-Pacific Partnership ,
Trump Administration ,
Uniforms ,
USPTO ,
YouTube
The press is all abuzz with reactions to Judge Mayer’s concurring opinion bluntly stating that “claims directed to software implemented on a generic computer are categorically not eligible for patent.” Intellectual Ventures...more
Judge Leval Illuminates Google Books Fair Use Issues -
Second Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment for Defendant in Massive Copying Case -
Based on the defense of fair use, the Second Circuit affirmed summary judgment...more
28 U.S.C. § 1782: A Powerful Tool in Global Disputes -
As the number and complexity of cross-border and multi-jurisdictional disputes increase, companies can use 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to obtain evidence from U.S.-based...more
10/1/2015
/ 28 U.S.C. § 1782 ,
America Invents Act ,
Claim Construction ,
Copyright ,
Cross-Border ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Discovery ,
Evidence ,
Foreign Jurisdictions ,
Global Disputes ,
Google ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Kimble v Marvel Enterprises ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Multi-Jurisdictional Litigation ,
Patent Royalties ,
Patents ,
POM Wonderful ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Rule 11 ,
Testimony ,
Trade Secrets ,
USPTO
Last week, I reported on a September 4 decision from the District of Massachusetts in which the court emphasized that the presumption of validity applies to subject matter eligibility. This week, another judge in the same...more
On September 4, a Massachusetts district court issued an interesting ruling that calls into question many of the recent preliminary stage Alice-based invalidations we’ve seen over the past year. The decision, the latest...more
In the wake of last year’s Supreme Court decision in Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014), dozens of courts have declared scores of patents to be invalid as not satisfying the requirements of §101...more
6/25/2015
California’s Eraser Law: What IP Attorneys and Owners Need to Know -
Hector recently graduated from UC Berkeley and is anxious about his upcoming job interview. He is about to enter the adult world. But he has also got...more
6/23/2015
/ Abstract Ideas ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Bad Faith ,
Claim Construction ,
COPPA ,
Copyright Office ,
DMCA ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Facebook ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Induced Infringement ,
Laches ,
Minor Eraser Law ,
Misappropriation ,
Patents ,
Recruitment Incentives ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Section 101 ,
Social Media ,
Social Networks ,
Software ,
Takedown Notices ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademarks ,
Twitter
Copyrighting Player-Generated Content in Video Games -
Last year, consumers spent more than $21 billion on the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association reports that almost 60% of Americans—roughly...more
4/6/2015
/ Claim Construction ,
Clear Error Standard ,
Copyright ,
Costco ,
Entertainment Industry ,
Film Industry ,
Hana Financial v Hana Bank ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Tacking ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals ,
Teva v Sandoz ,
The Copyright Act ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademarks ,
Video Games
There has been significant commentary, both before and after the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice, that the various judicially created exceptions to patentability under 35 USC § 101 are not only sound, but are also...more
In my previous post, I provided an explanation of Abstract Ideas under Alice, emphasizing that to be an ineligible abstract idea, a claim must recite a fundamental building block of human ingenuity. How then does an examiner...more
On June 25, 2014, just six days after the Supreme Court decided Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014), the USPTO issued its Preliminary Examination Instructions (“Guidance”) in view of the case. ...more
By now, we've all heard of the controversy regarding the lax oversight at the USPTO of examiners in the Office's Telework Program--what I'll unofficially dub as "Telegate." Now, the House Oversight and Government Reform...more
A recent episode of NPR’s “Planet Money” was entitled “The Case Against Patents.” Several notable commentators in that episode questioned whether patents help or hinder innovation, whether history supports the benefits of a...more
In my recent analysis of the Alice decision, I wrote the following:
In Benson, the Court believed (wrongly it turned about, but that’s beside the point) that the claims covered the basic algorithm for converting...more
On the final day of its 2013 term, the Supreme Court issued some interesting orders in Section 101 cases dealing with computer-implemented business methods.
First, in WildTangent, Inc. v. Ultramercial, LLC (13-255),...more
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court held that patent claims directed to abstract ideas do not become patent eligible by the “mere recitation” of generic computer elements. Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, No....more
6/23/2014
/ Alice Corporation ,
CLS Bank ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Mayo v. Prometheus ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Risk Mitigation ,
SCOTUS ,
Software ,
USPTO
Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank is out and the result is not unexpected:
1) Alice's patents for computer-implemented methods and systems for financial risk intermediation are invalid.
2) The patents claim abstract idea,...more
Right of Publicity? First, Let Me Take a Selfie -
“Oh, he wants to do a selfie,” President Barack Obama observed with amusement before gamely posing with Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz. Ortiz snapped the...more
6/11/2014
/ Domain Names ,
Endorsements ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
gTLD ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Internet ,
Inventors ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Right of Publicity ,
Trade Secrets ,
UTSA
The America Invents Act (AIA) came into law back in September 2011, but it was not until last March that its provisions were completely phased in. The changes last year included not only the switch from a “first-to-invent” to...more
2/25/2014
/ America Invents Act ,
Beastie Boys ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Copyright ,
Covered Business Method Patents ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Fair Use ,
First-to-File ,
First-to-Invent ,
GoldieBlox ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Irreparable Harm ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
SCOTUS ,
STEM ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademark Litigation
The Fourth Circuit has confirmed what many copyright holders have long hoped was true: That copyright interests can be validly transferred through electronic means, despite language in the 1976 Copyright Act requiring that...more