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
Note: This coverage of a district court case from last year provides an overview of the patented invention, as well as the decision currently being appealed to the Federal Circuit. In a subsequent article, we will review the...more
6/30/2015
/ America Invents Act ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Internet ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Section 101 ,
Ultramercial v Hulu ,
USPTO
In its first substantive application of Alice v. CLS Bank in 2015, the Federal Circuit has once again shot down claims for not meeting the patent-eligibility requirements of 35 U.S.C. § 101.
In 2012, OIP sued Amazon in...more
The Ultramercial story is not over. In the latest step of a controversial case involving 35 U.S.C. § 101 that has been ongoing since 2009, patentee Ultramercial has petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari. The...more
6/4/2015
/ CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Copyright ,
Hulu ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Internet Streaming ,
Music ,
Online Videos ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Section 101 ,
Software ,
Technology ,
Ultramercial v Hulu ,
WildTangent v Ultramercial ,
YouTube
On January 27, the USPTO provided its promised set of examples of patent-eligible and patent-ineligible claims relating to the abstract idea exception to 35 U.S.C. § 101, in light of Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank. These examples...more
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
Patentee Content Extraction and Transmission (CET) owns U.S. Patent Nos. 5,258,855 (the '855 patent), 5,369,508 (the '508 patent), 5,625,465 (the '465 patent), and 5,768,416 (the '416 patent). The '508, '465, and '416...more
On December 15, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published its 2014 Interim Guidance on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility. This Interim Guidance was the long-anticipated update to the Procedure for...more
Ultramercial sued Hulu, YouTube, and WildTangent for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7,346,545. Hulu and YouTube were eventually dismissed from the case. On a 12(b)(6) motion, and without construing the claims, the District...more
This case has a storied history. Ultramercial sued Hulu, YouTube, and WildTangent for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7,346,545. Hulu and YouTube were eventually dismissed from the case. On a 12(b)(6) motion, the District...more
As the fallout of the Supreme Court's Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank decision propagates through the USPTO and lower courts, many patent applications and patents directed to business methods are being rejected or struck down for...more
In the weeks since the Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Supreme Court decision, we have been watching patents and applications fall left and right due to use of that case's more stringent test regarding patent-eligibility. This test...more
Planet Bingo is the assignee of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,398,646 and 6,656,045, both directed to computer-implemented methods and systems for managing bingo games. Planet Bingo filed an infringement action in the United States...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
On December 6th, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to a case that presents the question of "[w]hether claims to computer-implemented inventions -- including claims to systems and machines, processes, and items of...more
While non-precedential, this recent Federal Circuit decision further illustrates the Court's thinking with regard to the patent-eligibility of computer-implemented inventions under 35 U.S.C. § 101, and provides a reminder...more
On Friday the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Intl., opening the door once again for the Justices to further carve out the landscape of patent-eligible software and business method claims....more
Recipe for a contentious Federal Circuit decision: empanel two judges who have different understandings of the patent-eligibility of computer-related inventions, sprinkle in a claim or two that could be viewed as a pure...more