Intellectual Property Protection Options for Software In a previous blog post, I discussed some of the recent updates issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office regarding patent eligible subject matter and software patents. As anyone who deals with software patents is aware, there is a lot of uncertainty as to whether software is patent eligible subject matter. While the […] Continue Reading →
Intellectual Property Protection Options for Software In my last blog post, I discussed some of the recent updates issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office regarding patent eligible subject matter and software patents. As anyone who deals with software patents is aware, there is a lot of uncertainty as to whether software is patent eligible subject matter. While the […] Continue Reading →
Apple and Fitbit Sued Over Wearable Physiological Monitoring For many, the start of a new year is a time for setting New Year’s resolutions. Many of these resolutions will include goals for the year, like saving money, paying off debts, volunteering in the community more, and living a healthier lifestyle. Living a healthier lifestyle and/or getting in better shape are always popular resolutions. […] Continue Reading →
Applying the USPTO Guidance on Patent Eligibility of Software The Supreme Court’s June 25, 2014 decision in Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, et al., was anticipated as being the case to decide once and for all whether software is patentable. Many were worried the decision would cause the demise of software patents while others hoped it would secure the future […] Continue Reading →
Reminder: Are You Monitoring Your Competitors’ Patents for Post-Grant Review? There were many changes implemented by the USPTO as a result of the America Invents Act (“AIA”or generally Patent Reform). One these is the post-grant procedure (also referred to as Post-Grant Review (PGR)) for challenging the validity of a competitor’s patent. However, there is a very limited time frame during which this useful procedure can […] Continue Reading →
Sales, Public Disclosure, and the One-Year Grace Period The America Invents Act (AIA) changed a number of provisions in the Patent Act (Title 35, U.S.C.). While many of these changes have not yet been subjected to scrutiny through litigation, a large number have been the subject of analysis by the USPTO, by virtue of their implementation into the rules of patent examination. Among […] Continue Reading →
Are electronic transmissions “articles”within 19 U.S.C. § 1337? The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) is authorized by federal law (39 U.S.C. § 1337) to take action against the “importation … of articles that (i) infringe a valid and enforceable U.S. patent.”USITC investigations represent an alternative to federal court intellectual property litigation, and may be especially useful where the allegedly infringing act involves […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit-Statements in Application Properly Used to Enable Prior Art One of the basic requirements for the grant of a patent by the USPTO is the invention must be shown to be “new.”In practice, this means that the invention must be sufficiently different from the existing prior art, including patents, publications, and existing products. However, in order for a piece of prior art to preclude […] Continue Reading →
Australian High Court Rules Isolated Genes Unpatentable Whether or not genes are patent-eligible subject matter has been a much-discussed issue over the last several years. The 2013 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Ass’n for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. established that that isolated DNA is a product of nature and therefore not patent eligible under Section 101 of Title […] Continue Reading →
Streamlined, Expedited Patent Appeal Program for Small Entities Announced by USPTO As of September 18, 2015, small or micro entities with only a single ex parte appeal pending before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) will be able to expedite review of their appeal in exchange for streamlining the process. According to the information provided on the USPTO website, the criteria for qualification for this […] Continue Reading →