News & Analysis as of May 12, 2025

Patent Invalidity

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Patent-Eligible Subject Matter refers to the types of inventions that can be legally patented. The criteria for patentability varies depending on the jurisdiction. In the United States, for instance, if a researcher discovers a naturally occurring substance, the substance itself cannot be patented. This issue was examined in a United States Supreme Court case, AMP v. Myriad, in regard to the patentability of human genes. less -

Developments in Patent Subject Matter Eligibility for Software-Related Inventions, in View of Guvera v. Spotify

Womble Bond Dickinson on 5/6/2025

Innovators seeking patent protection for software inventions should be aware that all software inventions face patent-eligibility issues. Nevertheless, patent practitioners who are experienced in the art of software patent...more

A New Alice Plot Twist - Can a Composition of Matter Be an Abstract Idea?

Miller Canfield on 3/11/2025

The patent world tends to think that the Supreme Court’s framework in Alice is a template for determining the eligibility of software and business method inventions. Under 35 U.S.C. § 101, abstract ideas are not eligible for...more

Federal Circuit Appeals from the PTAB and ITC: Summaries of Key 2022 Decisions

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. on 2/8/2023

As part of the recovery from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit took steps to return to normal operations. It began requiring live oral arguments in August 2022 and, by November,...more

Admission in Specification Dooms Organ Transplant Patents Under § 101

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on 10/21/2021

The United States District Court for the District of Delaware recently held that claims covering methods for evaluating organ transplant rejection are invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The patents at issue disclose methods...more

Federal Circuit Review - November 2019

Knobbe Martens on 12/30/2019

The Appointments Clause: Ensuring That PTAB Decisions Are Subject to Constitutional Checks and Balances In Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc., Appeal No. 18-2251, the Federal Circuit ruled that, under the then-existing...more

Federal Circuit Review - October 2019

Knobbe Martens on 11/25/2019

The PTAB Cannot Approve or Deny Certificates of Correction - In Honeywell International, Inc. v. Arkema Inc., Arkema France, Appeal Nos. 2018-1151, -1153, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) does not have the...more

Hybrid Audio, LLC v. Visual Land, Inc. (C.D. Cal. 2018)

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP on 6/5/2018

Signal Processing Claims Found to be Patent Eligible - In the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Hybrid Audio, LLC sued Visual Land, Inc. for patent infringement with respect to audio signal...more

Overcoming Early Alice Rejections in Litigation

Vedder Price on 4/25/2018

In 2014, the United States Supreme Court in a landmark decision in the field of Patent Law (Alice Corp. v. CLS Int’l) invalidated software patents related to mitigating settlement risk. Relying on the now-infamous Section...more

Federal Circuit Invalidates Claim to Generating “Financial Risk” Reports

Mintz - Intellectual Property Viewpoints on 3/22/2017

In the recent decision of Clarilogic v. Formfree Holdings, the Federal Circuit invalidated the patentee’s (Formfree) claim to a “computer-implemented method for providing certified financial data indicating financial risk...more

Boilerplate – New Consideration in View of Patent Subject Matter

Knobbe Martens on 9/26/2016

Can boilerplate language describing possible variations to an invention ever impact validity of a patent? Many software patents include standard “boilerplate” text describing many ways to implement an invention, such as by...more

Netsirv v. Boxbee, Inc. (PTAB 2016)

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP on 8/19/2016

A post grant review (PGR) is an administrative reconsideration of a recent-granted U.S. patent. The proceeding is held in the USPTO, before that body's Patent Trial and Appeal Board. A petition for PGR is timely if it is...more

Having A Bad Hair Day? The Federal Circuit Agrees That Method Of Cutting Hair Is Invalid Under 101

Foley & Lardner LLP on 5/2/2016

While I do not usually write about non-precedential decisions, In re: Brown caught my eye as an interesting patent eligibility case. It does not relate to diagnostics or computer programs, but rather to the art of cutting...more

Fetal DNA Test Cannot Give Birth to a Patent - Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc., et al. v. Sequenom Inc., et al.

McDermott Will & Emery on 8/4/2015

Addressing the issue of patent eligibility of a pre-natal testing invention, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit unanimously affirmed the district court’s judgement of invalidity under 35 U.S.C. § 101 with...more

Federal Circuit Holds Sequenom Diagnostic Method Patent Invalid Under 101

Foley & Lardner LLP on 6/15/2015

On Friday, June 12, 2015, the Federal Circuit issued its decision in Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v. Sequenom, Inc., affirming the district court's finding that Sequenom’s claims are invalid under 35 USC § 101. The court's...more

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