Patents, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, Functionality

Value and Risk of Overlapping Intellectual Property Protections

Proskauer - The Patent Playbook on 5/8/2025

A well-orchestrated intellectual property strategy requires carefully and thoughtfully leveraging copyright, trademark, and patent laws, as highlighted by a recent decision handed down by the United Sates Court of Appeals for...more

Blockchain Patentability Through The Lens Of A Recent PTAB Decision

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 3/4/2021

Blockchain patent applications may be divided into two types: underlying technologies of blockchain, such as consensus methods, security, etc., and applications of blockchain in, e.g., fintech, legal, and other industries. In...more

Balance is Key in Design Patent Claim Drafting

Jones Day on 8/10/2020

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board recently designated as informative its decision instituting post-grant review and addressing the issues of design patent functionality in Sattler Tech Corp. v. Humancentric Ventures, LLC. ...more

PTAB Designates As Informative a Decision Instituting Post-Grant Review for a Design Patent Lacking Ornamentality

Mintz - Intellectual Property Viewpoints on 6/17/2020

On June 11, 2020, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) designated as informative a July 26, 2019 institution decision granting post-grant review of a design patent for lacking ornamentality. In this ruling, the PTAB...more

Including Functional Claim Language Helped Save Pozen’s VIMOVO® Patents

Jones Day on 3/22/2017

On February 28, 2017, the PTAB held that the petitioner Lupin had not shown that the challenged claims in two of Pozen’s patents were invalid (IPR2015-01773 and IPR2015-01775). These cases show the advantage of using...more

Williamson Decision Will Encourage Patent Defendants to Challenge Software Claims

Farella Braun + Martel LLP on 6/24/2015

In Williamson v. Citrix Online, announced on June 16, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in a partially en banc opinion that claims expressed in terms of functionality can be subject to statutory requirements...more

Functional Claim Language – “Adapted To” and “Configured To” – Having Narrow Interpretations

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP on 5/15/2014

Patent claim drafting is a challenging exercise that requires balancing potential infringement of the claim against the prior art. A patent practitioner may easily draft a claim of very narrow scope, but if such claim has a...more

Patents › Patent Trial and Appeal Board › Functionality