For many companies in many industries, patents are an important tool for driving innovation. At the same time, patents limit competition, so that companies must also be wary of their competitors’ patent portfolios. The result...more
Justice John Paul Stevens passed away last week at the age of 99. During his nearly 35 years on the Supreme Court, Justice Stevens did not hesitate to make his views on intellectual property rights known – in short, they...more
About a week before the holidays, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office quietly published a trio of new subject matter eligibility examples directed to the abstract idea exception to patentability. These are the latest in a...more
Earlier this summer, in Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v. Sequenom, Inc., the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision by the District Court for the Northern District of California granting summary judgment of invalidity of the asserted...more
Recently, I had the privilege of speaking at the annual meeting of the American Society of Pharmacognosy in Colorado. Members of this scientific association are dedicated to identifying and isolating natural products from...more
Ever since the 2010 Supreme Court opinion in Bilski v. Kappos was handed down, the debate over the scope of patent-eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 has been at times stimulating, complex, comical, and frustrating. Now it...more
On May 10, 2013, the Federal Circuit handed down the much-anticipated en banc decision in CLS Bank Int'l v. Alice Corp. This case is perhaps the most important 35 U.S.C. § 101 jurisprudence regarding the patent eligibility of...more
Introduction Last week, the Supreme Court announced its much-anticipated and long-awaited decision in Bilski v. Kappos1, a case centered on the scope of patent-eligibility of process claims under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Not...more
On June 28, 2010, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision on business method patents in Bilski v. Kappos, No. 08-964. The Court unanimously agreed that Bilski’s invention, which was a process directed toward “how...more
On June 28, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Bilski v. Kappos, No. 08- 964, slip op. (U.S. June 28, 2010) rejecting the rigid “machine-or-transformation” test for patent-eligible subject matter proffered by...more