News & Analysis as of

Corporate Counsel Patents Software Patents

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP

Federal Circuit Offers Some Helpful Patent Eligibility Guidance

On August 11, in Powerblock Holdings, Inc. v iFit, Inc., the Federal Circuit offered at least two observations that can benefit patentees seeking patent protection for inventions involving software. First, the court noted...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Federal Circuit: Requesting, Transmitting, Receiving, Copying, Deleting, and Storing Data Records Is an Abstract Idea

Holland & Knight LLP on

A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit highlights the importance of describing any improvements to technology in the specification. In the case of Whitserve LLC v. Dropbox, Inc., WhitServe...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Federal Circuit: Improvements Inherent to Using a Computer, Such as Improved Speed and Efficiency, Do Not Transform an Abstract...

In deciding patent eligibility of computer-implemented claims, courts consider whether the claims merely implement a generic computer or whether they improve the functioning of the computer itself. The Federal Circuit...more

Fish & Richardson

Patenting Software: A Case Study in Overcoming Alice

Fish & Richardson on

In 2014, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, et al., 573 U.S. 208, which significantly altered the patentability of software, business methods,...more

Sunstein LLP

January 2019 IP Update - The Federal Circuit Refines the Post-Alice Landscape, Holding Spreadsheet Tabs Patent-Eligible

Sunstein LLP on

In Data Engine Technologies LLC v. Google LLC, holding patent-eligible a spreadsheet provided with tabs to facilitate navigation, the Federal Circuit continued, in late 2018, to refine the law of patent eligibility of...more

Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.

Lessons And Challenges Arising Out Of The Federal Circuit’s New Focus On Factual Issues In “Patent Eligibility” Disputes

With its Alice and Mayo opinions, the U.S. Supreme Court dramatically changed how patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 is defined. ...more

K&L Gates LLP

Federal Circuit Continues to Clarify Subject Matter Eligibility for Software Patents

K&L Gates LLP on

Many software-related and business method-related patents have been invalidated for being directed to “abstract ideas.” On January 10, 2018, in Finjan, Inc., v. Blue Coat Systems, Inc., the Federal Circuit affirmed the...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Federal Circuit "Blue Coat" Decision: Virus-Scanning Software Survives Alice Attack Applying "Enfish"

Husch Blackwell LLP on

On January 10, 2018, the Federal Circuit added Finjan, Inc. v. Blue Coat Sys., Inc., No. 2016-2520 (Fed. Cir.), to its Enfish jurisprudence and upheld the subject matter eligibility of a software patent directed to...more

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP

Federal Circuit Rules Software Patent for a User Interface is Patentable Subject Matter

In the recent decision Trading Technologies International, Inc., v. CQG, Inc. et al., the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's ruling that a software patent on a graphical user interface was patentable subject matter,...more

Burr & Forman

Improving Patent Eligibility for Your Software Despite the Prohibition of Patent Protection for "Abstract Ideas"

Burr & Forman on

As technologies advance, the Patent Office (as well as the Nation’s courts) must utilize Section 101 of the Patent Act to place reasonable limitations on patent eligibility to ensure that our patent system balances the...more

Fish & Richardson

Amdocs v. Openet: Federal Circuit Will Take Case-by-Case, Common-Law Approach to “Abstract Idea” Determinations Under Alice

Fish & Richardson on

The Federal Circuit in a 2-1 decision upheld four software patents against a patent-eligibility challenge, finding that the patents do not claim an “abstract idea.” The decision, Amdocs (Israel) Ltd. v. Openet Telecom Inc. et...more

Knobbe Martens

Federal Circuit Distinguishes its Recent McRO Decision

Knobbe Martens on

Less than a month after reversing the lower court’s determination of invalidity in McRO, Inc. v. Bandai Namco Games America, Inc., the Federal Circuit has now upheld the invalidity of claims in FairWarning IP, LLC v. Iatric...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Two Years After Alice: A Survey of the Impact of a "Minor Case" (Part 2)

Fenwick & West LLP on

AliceStorm at the USPTO - While AliceStorm's effect is most visible in the courts, because of their public nature, the real impact is largely unseen: it is the widespread rejection of patent applications by the USPTO. ...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Federal Circuit Erases a Rare Patent Owner Victory and Tells PTAB: No Changing Horses (Claim Constructions) Midstream

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In a recent decision on an inter partes review (IPR) appeal, the Federal Circuit erased a rare victory for a patent owner and remanded the case back to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) for rehearing on the sole claim...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

How Federal Circuit Provides New Hope for Computer and Software-based Patents in Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corporation

In just its second opinion upholding claims under Alice v. CLS Bank, the Federal Circuit has interpreted Alice in a manner that could save a “substantial class” of inventions from the strikingly-high invalidity rate under the...more

Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP

Software Patents Aren’t Inherently Abstract—Patent Appeals Court Clarifies and Enhances Software Patent Eligibility

In Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a California district court’s summary judgment that two software patents were directed to an “abstract idea” without...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

"Software" Claims Reciting No Structural Components and Having Questionable Novelty Struck Down under 35 U.S.C. § 101

Two recent District Court decisions show examples of "weak" claims, which in the past would likely be found invalid as lacking novelty or being obvious, but today are struck down as being unpatentable under § 101. The cases...more

17 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 1

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide