Artificial intelligence is rapidly reinventing the research and development process, but until recently, patentability remained a major uncertainty. That’s until the United States Patent and Trademark Office stepped in and...more
4/3/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Copyright ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Research and Development ,
Software Patents ,
Technology Sector ,
USPTO
In response to an October Executive Order from the Biden Administration, the United Stated Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has released its “Inventorship Guidance for AI-assisted Inventions” (“Guidance”). The Guidance...more
In This Issue -
Transformative Fair Use: Does Andy Warhol Qualify?
On March 28, 2022, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith, a case concerning whether Andy Warhol’s use of Lynn...more
8/9/2022
/ Abandonment ,
Appeals ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Fair Use ,
Misappropriation ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
The Copyright Act ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademark Expiration ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Transformative Use
Most lawyers know, at least generally, that IP infringement and misappropriation actions are subject to various statutes of limitations. Patent actions need to be brought within six years, copyright actions within three, and...more
Illumina has now filed its brief in opposition, completing the certiorari petitions/responses for all parties in the concurrent American Axle and Ariosa patent eligibility cases. True to form, neither of the filings in...more
For more than a decade, this blog has covered the topic of patentable subject matter. Over the years, we’ve addressed various issues regarding business methods, abstract ideas and other various topics. The “laws of nature”...more
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its second and third decisions in American Axle & Manufacturing v. Neapco Holdings and Neapco Drivelines, the case we’ve previously discussed in which the...more
In This Issue -
How COVID-19 is Changing IP Law – What You Need to Know
The rapid spread of COVID-19 brought about massive global events that led to a dizzying array of changes—including in intellectual property law,...more
Under the America Invents Act, the USPTO is to stop accepting petitions for review of covered business method patents after September 16, 2020. Given the various other priorities Congress will be dealing with between now and...more
Sharply differing majority and dissenting opinions in the Federal Circuit’s recent American Axle & Manufacturing v. Neapco Holdings decision present yet another case where the Federal Circuit appears to be in need of further...more
As artificial intelligence systems become more prevalent in daily life, efforts to create a unifying set of AI principles have intensified. In the past few months, at least three major works have been published on the issue....more
8/25/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Data Protection ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Ethics ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
OECD ,
Patent Act ,
Patents ,
Policy Updates ,
Popular ,
Public Safety ,
Technology Sector ,
Trade Secrets ,
Transparency ,
UTSA
In This Issue -
A Looming AI War: Transparency v. IP Rights -
As artificial intelligence systems become more prevalent in daily life, efforts to create a unifying set of AI principles have intensified. In the past few...more
8/21/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Bayh-Dole Act ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Federal Funding ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Lanham Act ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Reform ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
Trademarks
Back in March, I reported on the breadth of comments the USPTO received in response to its new Guidance on patent subject matter eligibility. Now, Congress has taken up the issue with a proposed draft of a new bipartisan,...more
7/1/2019
/ Article III ,
Experimental Use Exception ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Guidance ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Section 101 ,
Standing ,
USPTO
In January, the USPTO announced it would seek comments on the new Guidance it had published on patent subject matter eligibility. We have previously discussed this Guidance and won’t repeat ourselves here. ...more
My last post focused on definitions for the terms “well-understood,” “routine,” and “conventional”—or W-URC—from the subject matter eligibility test set forth in Mayo and further described in Alice. Those terms relate to one...more
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
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
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