3D Printing: Science Fact Meets Science Fiction
In this day and age, the growing trend towards technology seems to be an undeniable recognition amongst the intelligent collective that something curiously interesting is happening, and furthermore,...
View ArticleSoftware patents: more a matter of time
As if Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook don’t have enough problems, Facebook’s being sued. The patent infringement suit filed by Software Rights Archives LLC (SRA) puts Facebook among the ranks of Twitter,...
View ArticleSoftware and Business Method Inventions after Alice
Patent attorneys are often asked the question: “Is my idea patentable?” Often the idea is related to software or business methods. Well-known business methods include Amazon’s “1-click shopping” and...
View Article6 Tips for Writing Quality Invention Disclosures
Before returning to private practice, I practiced patent law in-house at two companies: first at a battery company, and then at an oil company. I’ve sat through my share of invention disclosure...
View ArticleConstruction of a Claim Term by the PTAB Does Not Negate Indefiniteness
The doctrine of definiteness requires a patent to clearly state what the inventor considers to be their invention. Of course, the PTAB interprets various claim terms when determining whether a prior...
View ArticleRapid Patent Application Claims Drafting Technique
By Christopher Hall Here is a technique for rapidly drafting claims, for a patent application. This is a brainstorming mechanism that works for one person, or two, or more, and uses a free-form...
View ArticleThe Provisional Patent Application Trap
An Internet search using the term "provisional patent application" will bury you in ads by companies offering inventors a low-cost entry ticket to the U.S. patent system. I'm concerned, but not...
View ArticleIntellectual Properties Owners Association Proposes Legislative Fix for s. 101
On Wed., February 8, 2017, IPO released the report of its legislation task force. Unlike the hundreds of academic analyses of the legislative history of s. 101 – and this report includes another – the...
View ArticlePTAB Terminates Interference Proceeding Between University of California and...
Written by Hyeongsu Rick Park and Kerry S. Taylor, Ph.D. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) terminated a patent interference proceeding between the University of California (UC) and the Broad...
View ArticleCovered Business Method Patent: You Keep Using Those Words … We do not Think...
In Secure Access, LLC v. PNC BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, [2016-1353] (February 21, 2017), the Federal Circuit vacated the Board’s decision in CBM2014-00100 on the ground that U.S. Patent No. 7,631,191...
View ArticleThe Song says 2 out of 3 Ain’t Bad; The Supreme Court says 1 is not...
In Life Technologies Corp. v. Promega Corp. [14-1538] (February 22, 2017), the Supreme Court reversed a Federal Circuit decision that supplying a single component of a multi-component invention from...
View ArticleClean Tech in Court: Green Patent Complaint Update
Several new green patent complaints were filed in January and February in the areas of advanced batteries, waste-to-energy feedstocks, energy-efficient exercise equipment, and LEDs. Advanced Batteries...
View ArticleBrookings Institution Report Highlights Green Patent Problems
A new report by the Brookings Institution notes a troubling recent reversal in U.S. green patenting activity. Specifically, the report found that the total number of clean tech patents granted by the...
View ArticleThe Cleveland Clinic v. True Health Diagnostics LLC – Time to Redefine...
Ariosa was a decision that essentially held that the novel discovery of a naturally-occurring phenomenon could not per se meet the Mayo/Alice requirement for an inventive concept, even though it was...
View ArticleHoneywell International, Inc. v. Mexichem Amanco Holdings – Revenge of the...
Before reading this post, please read my post of July 19, 2017 about Millennium Pharms. v. Sandoz, and you will “get” the title. Judges Lourie and Newman both dissented from refusal of the court to...
View ArticleSupreme Court Rules That “Secret Sales” Can Qualify as Prior Art
Pre-AIA, 35 USC 102(b) stated that a person is entitled to a patent unless “the invention was patented or described in a printed publication… or in public use or on sale in the country, more than one...
View ArticleSenate Subcommittee Hearing of Patent Eligibility Wrap Up – Now What?
In my first post on the Subcommittee Hearings held last week, I noted the absence of many witnesses from the life science industry, as opposed to groups such as IPO, AIPLA, BIO, ACLU and PhMA. The...
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