On March 16, the Copyright Office published guidance in the Federal Register relating to works produced at least in part by generative artificial intelligence (AI). This is the latest in a series of policy decisions and...more
Years ago, I was a proud parent when my children were invited to participate in an honors math program at their grade school. But this initial delight turned to confusion, and eventually frustration....more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) organizes its examining corps into technical centers (TCs). Each TC is dedicated to one or more general technical fields. In some cases, one TC may include two or more unrelated...more
We are all familiar with the rhetorical device of a parade of horribles -- a series of very bad things that could happen if some action is (or isn't) taken. Often, these parades involve a degree of hyperbole. In other...more
When boiled down to a fundamental level, all technologies are double-edged swords. A spear can be used to hunt game or to wage war. A hammer can be used to build a shelter or to murder fellow humans. Social media can be...more
The interpretation of 35 U.S.C. 101 has been in flux for over a decade. Please join MBHB Partner Michael Borella, Ph.D., as he discusses its latest iteration, how patent eligibility is currently viewed by the USPTO and...more
ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI. It is based on the transformer architecture and trained on a massive dataset of text from the Internet. It has the ability to generate human-like text and can be used for...more
There is ample evidence that patent examiner allowance rates vary dramatically from examiner to examiner and art unit to art unit.[1] This has resulted in the general understanding that there are "easy" examiners and "tough"...more
The talk of the Internet these days (with spillover into traditional media) is ChatGPT, a large language model that is capable of producing remarkably human-like text. Trained on millions of human language documents, ChatGPT...more
In Liu Cixin's novel The Three Body Problem, the characters create a "computer" from human labor. Millions of people serve as "bits" and hold up flags to indicate whether they represent 0s or 1s. These individuals are given...more
On December 29, 2022, to the relief of many practitioners and applicants, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office delayed the effective date of its controversial incentivized transition to DOCX format for patent application...more
In a ruling that should surprise absolutely nobody, the Federal Circuit rapidly scrapped an appeal of a PTAB decision that affirmed a 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejection of a business method claim. This is the latest in a series of...more
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is at it again, gaslighting the public in its ongoing crusade against patents. While the EFF does perform some commendable work, mostly in the areas of individual privacy rights, its...more
In an ideal world, patent eligibility would be a simple, clear, and non-controversial inquiry. After all, the purpose of 35 U.S.C. § 101 is to inform the public which types of inventions are eligible for patenting and which...more
Bad law often gives rise to creative legal arguments. But the application of such creative lawyering is necessarily bounded by ethical rules and notions of fair dealing. Patent eligibility, in its current incarnation, has...more
Given the recent bust cycle of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), all things blockchain are currently tainted with words such as "bubble", "scam", and "fraud". But blockchain technology, which is what enables...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
There is a theme running through many patent-eligibility disputes that is analogous to baiting-and-switching. One party has claims that recite an invention. The other party characterizes those claims at a high level or...more
Mentone sued Digi for alleged infringement of Mentone's U.S. Patent No. 6,952,413. The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware found the claims of the patent to be ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Mentone...more
In a rare showing of bipartisanship, the U.S. Senate has passed Senate Bill S.1260, the "Endless Frontier Act." Co-sponsored by senators Schumer, Young, Hassan, Collins, Coons, Portman, Baldwin, Graham, Peters, Blunt,...more
The Supreme Court's Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int'l case has been criticized for setting forth a patent eligibility analysis that is unworkably subjective. As a consequence, the validity of particular types of inventions,...more
The evolution of graphical user interfaces parallels the evolution of computing technology itself. As computers grow more powerful and sophisticated, so does their ability to display cutting-edge representations of...more
11/9/2020
/ Abstract Ideas ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Computer-Related Inventions ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventive Concept Test ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Prior Art ,
Section 101 ,
Software Developers ,
Software Patents ,
USPTO
If we have learned anything from the last six-and-a-half years of patent eligibility jurisprudence, it is that nobody knows what's going on.
Subject matter eligibility is a fundamental requirement for an invention to be...more
11/2/2020
/ Abstract Ideas ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Examination Procedures ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventive Concept Test ,
Patent Examinations ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Section 101 ,
USPTO
Last year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a request for comments (RFC) on patenting artificial intelligence (AI) based inventions. Topics of the RFC included AI's impact on inventorship and ownership,...more
On June 4, 5, and 11, the Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held hearings on its recent proposal to revise 35 U.S.C. § 101, and in particular the current draft bill to do so. Chairman Tillis and Ranking Member...more