The Situation: Concerns that uncertain and unpredictable patent subject matter eligibility jurisprudence thwarts U.S. economic and technological advancements are especially acute in the fast advancing AI space. Stakeholders...more
Following similar decisions in other countries, a Japanese court held for the first time on May 16, 2024, that an inventor in the Patent Act is limited to a natural person and does not include an artificial intelligence...more
The USPTO's April 11, 2024, guidance clarifies how existing USPTO rules apply to the use of AI by practitioners when interacting with the USPTO....more
The Background: In response to the Biden administration's "Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence" on October 30, 2023, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office...more
2/19/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Executive Orders ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
Joint Inventors ,
New Guidance ,
Patent Act ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
USPTO
In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit found no abuse of discretion by the Board when it allowed Apple to expand its analogous art contention in its IPR reply, finding that the Board’s decision did not run afoul of the...more
In a recent decision, the PTAB granted institution of an IPR despite multiple parallel district court proceedings involving the same patent, and flatly rejected the Patent Owner’s argument that the Petitioner’s “conflicting”...more
The Situation: The U.S. Supreme Court recently denied certiorari in Thaler v. Vidal, leaving intact the Federal Circuit's ruling that only human beings, and not artificial intelligence ("AI") systems, can be inventors under...more
6/23/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Intellectual Property Owner’s Association (IPO) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventors ,
Machine Learning ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
USPTO
After finding that Apple infringed certain AliveCor patents related to wearable devices capable of monitoring a user’s cardiac activity, the International Trade Commission (“ITC”) entered a limited exclusion order and a cease...more
A PTAB panel recently granted a Petitioner’s motion to submit a second expert declaration that directly addressed deficiencies identified by the PTAB’s Institution Decision. While a “close” case, the panel concluded that...more
In the precedential decision Gen. Plastic Indus. Co. v. Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, IPR2016-01357, Paper 19 (PTAB Sept. 6, 2017), the PTAB articulated seven non-exclusive factors to be considered before discretionarily denying a...more
On August 5, 2022, in Thader v. Vidal, the Federal Circuit affirmed that patent inventors must be natural persons, rejecting a technologist's attempt to name an artificial intelligence as the sole inventor on patent...more
The Patent Act provides that “[t]he court in exceptional cases may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party.” 35 U.S.C. § 285. In a recent denial of a motion for attorney fees pursuant to § 285, an Ohio...more
In a recent decision invalidating numerous claims of a patent related to cochlear implants for hearing loss, the PTAB found that Petitioner improperly relied on applicant admitted prior art (AAPA) as the “basis” for one...more
4/22/2022
/ Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Lack of Authority ,
Patent Applicants ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Statutory Authority
The Federal Circuit recently issued another decision in a longstanding dispute between Willis Electric Co. and Polygroup Ltd. involving two patents owned by Willis (U.S. Patent Nos. 8,454,186 and 8,454,187) directed to...more
2/3/2022
/ CAFC ,
Claim Construction ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Vacatur
AI is becoming ubiquitous across all industries. AI systems and services are embedded in everyday products and services, including Amazon's Alexa, Netflix streaming services, and Nest smart thermostats. AI systems are also...more
The Situation: Artificial intelligence ("AI") is being used to develop new inventions without human aid. As AI capabilities increase, patent offices around the globe are being confronted with difficult questions about whether...more
The emergence of artificial intelligence-related technology as a means of innovation has led to uncertainties for companies across industries, primarily because U.S. patent law has historically held that intellectual property...more
4/20/2020
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Computer-Related Inventions ,
Copyright ,
Innovation ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventors ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
The Federal Circuit continues to be flooded with petitions to revisit its panel decision in Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc., 941 F.3d 1320, No. 2018-2140 (Fed. Cir. 2019). As previously discussed, all three parties in...more
January 17 Update: On January 17, each of the parties filed responses to the rehearing petitions -
As we have previously discussed on this blog and elsewhere, the Federal Circuit’s decision in Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew...more
1/20/2020
/ Administrative Patent Judges ,
Appeals ,
Appointments Clause ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Judicial Appointments ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Petition For Rehearing ,
Remand ,
Statutory Authority ,
USPTO ,
Vacated
The Situation: Advances in artificial intelligence ("AI") are providing the ability to automatically create and design innovations without human assistance. AI's impact on patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, and other...more
11/26/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Authorship ,
Comment Period ,
Computer-Related Inventions ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Office ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) recently issued a Final Written Decision in favor of Comcast Cable Communications, LLC (“Comcast”) and against Promptu Systems Corporation (“Promptu”) in a covered business method...more
10/24/2019
/ Comcast ,
Covered Business Method Patents ,
Covered Business Method Proceedings ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Prosecution ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Printed Publications ,
Prior Art ,
Section 101 ,
Section 102 ,
Section 103 ,
Section 112 ,
USPTO
Two recent patent applications seek protection for inventions that were created autonomously by artificial intelligence without a human inventor. The applicants want the AI to be deemed the inventor and the AI's owners to...more
The PTAB recently denied petitioner’s request for rehearing of a decision denying institution of inter partes review, rejecting the argument that the Board’s denial was based on an erroneous analysis of the “non-exhaustive”...more
9/10/2019
/ Denial of Rehearing ,
Evidence ,
Expert Witness ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Owner Preliminary Response ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
The Situation: Artificial intelligence ("AI") is growing more powerful and gaining application in many areas. AI can now create new innovation on its own, without a human inventor—a capability that will only expand as...more
9/9/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Computer-Related Inventions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
USPTO ,
Young Lawyers
Patent procurement activity is increasing to protect embedded artificial intelligence ("AI") technologies in a variety of digital healthcare solutions. The United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") has issued the...more
8/19/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Digital Health ,
Healthcare ,
Life Sciences ,
Medical Devices ,
New Guidance ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Section 101 ,
Technology ,
USPTO