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
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
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
January 2012 saw an explosion of controversy over two Internet-related bills that had been progressing through Congress: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic...more
9/26/2013
/ Advertising ,
Calculation of Damages ,
CLS Bank ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Computer-Related Inventions ,
Copyright ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Damages ,
gTLD ,
ICANN ,
Infringement ,
Internet ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Payment Processors ,
PIPA ,
Piracy ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Royalties ,
SOPA ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademark Clearinghouse ,
Trademarks ,
Ultramercial v Hulu
Patent holders, inventors, and even the courts have recently struggled with the limits of what can be patented. The patentability of software, widely accepted for decades, has lately been questioned. The scope of...more
On March 16, 2013, the most significant provisions of the America Invents Act (AIA) came into force. The AIA was seen as the most extensive alteration to U.S. patent law in half a century, and was hotly debated over nearly a...more