On April 18, 2023, we submitted a Supreme Court amicus brief expressing our encouragement for the justices to rule on the question of whether it is proper for an artificial intelligence (AI) to be an inventor on a patent...more
In an order that is clearly less impactful and damaging than a number of opinions that the Supreme Court has disgorged in the last two weeks, the justices have denied certiorari in American Axle & Mfg. Inc. v. Neapco Holdings...more
7/1/2022
/ CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 101 ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
USPTO
Today, the Supreme Court requested the views of the Solicitor General in its consideration of American Axle's certiorari petition, which asks the Court to reverse the Federal Circuit's decision in American Axle & Mfg. v....more
Patent eligibility is a bit of a mess these days. Ever since the Supreme Court handed down the Alice v. CLS Bank decision six years ago, the distinction between what might be subject matter that can be patented and what is...more
8/1/2020
/ Abstract Ideas ,
Appeals ,
Claim Construction ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
DDR Holdings v Hotels.com ,
Enfish v Microsoft ,
Informational Studies ,
Mayo v. Prometheus ,
McRo v Bandai Namco ,
Novelty ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Product of Nature Doctrine ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 101 ,
Section 102 ,
Section 103 ,
Section 112 ,
USPTO
In 2014's Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int'l case, Justice Thomas famously wrote, "we need not labor to delimit the precise contours of the 'abstract ideas' category in this case." Instead, he found the claims of patentee Alice...more
3/3/2020
/ Abstract Ideas ,
Appeals ,
Bilski ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Covered Business Method Patents ,
Legal History ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 101 ,
USPTO
The hopes of anyone in favor of patent reform targeting 35 U.S.C § 101 have been official dashed -- or at least put on hold. In an interview with the Intellectual Property Owner's association (IPO) last week, Senator Thom...more
2019 Patent Trial and Appeal Board Key Practice Updates: A Year in Review -
2019 has been an active year for procedural changes in the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”). These changes include not only the PTAB’s...more
An Obviousness Rejection in Patent-Eligibility Clothing? -
In Mayo v. Prometheus, the Supreme Court wrote "[w]e recognize that, in evaluating the significance of additional steps, the § 101 patent-eligibility inquiry and,...more
As 2015 drew to a close, the toll of the Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int'l decision on software and business method patents became apparent. Post Alice, approximately 70% of all patents challenged under 35 U.S.C. § 101 have been...more
1/7/2016
/ CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Covered Business Method Patents ,
Exceptional Case ,
Octane Fitness v. ICON ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 101 ,
Software Patents ,
Totality of Circumstances Test
In a previous article on the USPTO's publication of its 2014 Interim Guidance on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility, we wrote:
Despite the Interim Guidance offering a reasonably fair and thorough overview of the current...more
On July 30, 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office updated its subject matter eligibility guidance ("July Update"). In the July Update, the Office provided recommendations and resources for examiners in addition to those...more
11/6/2015
/ Abstract Ideas ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Examiners ,
Guidance Update ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Public Comment ,
SCOTUS ,
Software Patents ,
USPTO
On July 30, 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office updated its subject matter eligibility guidance ("July Update"). The update provided recommendations and resources for examiners in addition to those in the Office's...more
11/4/2015
/ Abstract Ideas ,
American Bar Association (ABA) ,
AMP v Myriad ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Guidance Update ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Mayo v. Prometheus ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Public Comment ,
SCOTUS ,
TRIPS Agreement ,
USPTO
USPTO SealAs the fallout from the Supreme Court's Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int'l case makes its way through the federal courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), applicants and patentees continue to struggle...more
On July 30, 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office updated its subject matter eligibility guidance ("Eligibility Update"). This update provides recommendations and resources for examiners in addition to those in the...more
8/26/2015
/ Abstract Ideas ,
Bilski ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Mayo v. Prometheus ,
New Guidance ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Preemption ,
SCOTUS ,
Ultramercial v Hulu ,
USPTO
Section 18 of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) established a transitional program through which the USPTO conducts post-grant reviews of covered business method (CBM) patents. For the most part, § 18 incorporates...more
7/16/2015
/ America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Broadest Reasonable Interpretation Standard ,
Claim Construction ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Covered Business Method Patents ,
Covered Business Method Proceedings ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Judicial Review ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
SCOTUS ,
USPTO
Two months ago, in a long-awaited decision, the Federal Circuit invalided Ultramercial's U.S. Patent No. 7,346,545, directed to online video advertisements, as lacking patent-eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The Court...more
1/20/2015
/ Advertising ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
En Banc Review ,
Mayo v. Prometheus ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Petition for Review ,
SCOTUS ,
Ultramercial v Hulu ,
WildTangent v Ultramercial
The press has been all too eager to decry the so-called "broken" U.S. patent system and the alleged "scourge" of non-practicing entities (NPEs). However, few if any articles attempt to provide an even-handed analysis of...more
12/19/2014
/ CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Covered Business Method Patents ,
Nautilus Inc. v. Biosig Instruments ,
Non-Practicing Entities ,
Obviousness ,
Octane Fitness v. ICON ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Reform ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent Trolls ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
Software
In This Issue:
- The Analysis for Design Patent Infringement Post-Egyptian Goddess
- Supreme Court Issues Decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank
- Capitol Records, LLC v. Pandora Media, Inc.: Future of...more
8/27/2014
/ Capitol Records ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Copyright ,
Design Patent ,
Digital Media ,
Music Industry ,
Pandora ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
SCOTUS
There's an old saying that “bad facts make bad law,” acknowledging that a court's decisions regarding extreme cases can result in law poorly adapted to less extreme cases. The Supreme Court's recent trio of 35 U.S.C. § 101...more
Ever since the 2010 Supreme Court opinion in Bilski v. Kappos was handed down, the debate over the scope of patent-eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 has been at times stimulating, complex, comical, and frustrating. Now it...more
Less than four weeks after the Supreme Court handed down its opinion in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, the Federal Circuit has used the holding of that case to strike down a patentee's claims under 35 U.S.C. § 101....more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) wasted no time providing guidance to its examining corps regarding the recent Supreme Court decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International. Just one week after the Justices...more
In the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, the Court affirmed the invalidity of Alice’s patents for computer implemented methods of reducing settlement risk. This case reached the...more
There's an old saying that "bad facts make bad law," acknowledging that a court's decision regarding an extreme case can result in law that poorly serves less extreme cases. The Supreme Court's recent trio of 35 U.S.C. § 101...more
6/20/2014
/ Akamai Technologies ,
Alice Corporation ,
CLS Bank ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Kappos ,
Limelight Networks ,
Mayo v. Prometheus ,
Nautilus Inc. v. Biosig Instruments ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS
On Monday, March 31, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the closely-watched Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int'l case. The question presented was "[w]hether claims to computer-implemented inventions -- including claims to...more