Copyright Infringement and Fair Use in a Digital World In the most general sense, copyright infringement is copying, or using, a work protected by copyright without permission from the copyright owner. Almost inevitably, soon after you hear the words “copyright infringement”, you will also hear the words “fair use”. Fair use is one of the most frequently discussed defenses to copyright infringement but it […] Continue Reading →
Trading Technologies: Successful Software Patents In Trading Technologies v. GQG, the Federal Circuit addressed the patentability of software directed to a specific purpose. Trading Technologies owns patents for a computerized method and system for trading stocks, and other related goods. The method relies on improved software and user interface to facilitate stock transactions at a faster and more efficient pace. […] Continue Reading →
The Corporate King of Patents For the 24th straight year, IBM has received more U.S. patents than any other entity. In 2016, the Patent Office issued 8088 patents to IBM covering a wide range of inventions, including cloud computing, cyber security, artificial intelligence, cognitive computing, health care, medical devices, and drones. These patents named over 8500 different inventors from 47 states […] Continue Reading →
USPTO Released Its 2016 Performance and Accountability Report The USPTO published its annual Performance and Accountability Report for the 2016 fiscal year. The Report tracks “agency’s progress toward meeting goals outlined in our 2014-2018 Strategic Plan: optimizing patent quality and timeliness; optimizing trademark quality and timeliness; and providing domestic and global leadership to improve intellectual property policy, protection, and enforcement worldwide.‚¬ Thus, the […] Continue Reading →
Post-Grant Reviews under the America Invents Act The America Invents Act implemented the Post-grant Review (PGR) process as a new means of challenging existing patents. PGR differs from Inter Partes Review (IPR) in that PGR allows for a wider array of invalidity challenges. One example of a new challenge allowed under PGR is the ability to challenge the claims as being indefinite. […] Continue Reading →