Podcast: Blockchain Intellectual Property Considerations for Innovators and Investors
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
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
Dear Patenticity, My startup is working on what we believe is a game-changing software application and we are concerned about others taking our idea and fielding a competitive product based on our work. We would like to...more
In recent years, AI patent activity has exponentially increased. The figure below shows the volume of public AI patent applications categorized by AI component in the U.S. from 1990-2018. The eight AI components in FIG. 1 are...more
Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized many technology areas. As a few examples, it has already been instrumental in improving and enabling voice recognition algorithms, digital assistants, advertisement...more
Use of artificial intelligence has grown enormously in recent years. A decade ago, machine learning was a new and exotic technology—at least, for mainstream commercial applications—with few companies patenting ML-based...more
Software-related patent applications have been in a legal flux for a number of years, with a lack of clarity and predictability over what exactly qualifies as patent eligible subject matter. Many technology enterprises have...more
Two interwoven challenges come to mind when considering how to successfully patent AI technologies. The first of these challenges is drafting claims whose infringement is detectable despite the black box nature of AI...more
In The Chamberlain Group, Inc. v. Techtronic Industries Co., the Federal Circuit weighed in on the type of subject matter that can be characterized as an “abstract idea” and, thus, not eligible for patent protection....more
In a second notice of proposed rulemaking (besides the one for patent eligibility) announced January 4, 2019 and published in the Federal Register on January 7, 2019, the Patent and Trademark Office has proposed guidelines...more
Recent USPTO Guidance Offers Insight for Software Patent Eligibility - By now most of you have probably heard that "software patents" and "software patent applications" have had a rough time for the past 4 ½ years. Some of...more
New guidance may lead to fewer patent applications rejected on eligibility grounds - Patentable subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C § 101 has been the subject of much attention since the Supreme Court articulated the...more
On January 4, 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) released a significant, much-awaited revision to its patentable subject matter eligibility guidance. The “2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter...more
On January 4th, the USPTO announced revised guidance for subject matter eligibility (Section 101 Revised Guidance) and stated it would take effect when published on Monday, January 7, 2019....more
The United States Patent Trademark Office (USPTO), issued updated examination guidance (Updated Guidance) for examining software claims defining an invention using functional language on January 7, 2019. ...more
As you read this article, hundreds of startups and other organizations are working on blockchain applications in such areas as energy trading, data storage trading, peer-to-peer lending, and verifying professional or other...more
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
This third article in the “Surviving Alice” series examines how the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board has responded to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2014 Alice decision. It also shows how applicants can use the PTAB’s...more
As many of my readers noticed, I didn't publish any of my own blogs in January and February. As it turned out, I suffered from a peculiar form of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), what I would call SMIAD: Subject Matter...more
As 2017 begins and IP strategies are being developed for the new year, it is a good time to reflect on what IP issues were prominent in 2016. According to the many readers of Global IP Matters, hot topics included navigating...more
AliceStorm at the USPTO - While AliceStorm's effect is most visible in the courts, because of their public nature, the real impact is largely unseen: it is the widespread rejection of patent applications by the USPTO. ...more