PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - Who Owns AI Innovation? IP in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
5 Key Takeaways | Making Sense of §102 Public Use and On Sale Bars to Patentability
Unexpected Paths to IP Law with Dan Young and Colin White
5 Key Takeaways | AI and Your Patent Management, Strategy & Portfolio
Wolf Greenfield Attorneys Review 2024 and Look Ahead to 2025
(Podcast) The Briefing: A Very Patented Christmas – The Quirkiest Inventions for the Holiday Season
The Briefing: A Very Patented Christmas – The Quirkiest Inventions for the Holiday Season
5 Key Takeaways | Alice at 10: A Section 101 Update
New Developments in Obviousness-Type Double Patenting and Original Patent Requirements — Patents: Post-Grant Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - Artificial Intelligence Patents & Emerging Regulatory Laws
John Harmon on the Evolving Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Intellectual Property
Rob Sahr on the Administration’s Aggressive Approach to Bayh-Dole Compliance
The Briefing: The Patent Puzzle: USPTO's Guidelines for AI Inventions
The Briefing: The Patent Puzzle: USPTO's Guidelines for AI Inventions (Podcast)
Wolf Greenfield Attorneys Preview What’s Ahead in 2024
Noteworthy Points in the Rules for the Implementation of China's Patent Law 2023
5 Key Takeaways | Best Practices in Patent Drafting: Addressing 112 and Enablement after Amgen
Third Party Observation in Patent Prosecution in China
Building a Cost-Effective Global Patent Portfolio Using the Netherlands
Greater Speed and Efficiency: Steps IP Offices Around the World Are Taking to Streamline the Patent Process
The August 4, 2025 memorandum (Memo) issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) clarifies how examiners should approach subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Importantly, the Memo provides critical...more
A recent decision issued by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) concerning a patent application filed by a game developer company Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. (Bandai Namco) serves as a useful example for informing...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a memorandum on August 4, 2025, to provide reminders to Examiners in software-related arts, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, regarding...more
On August 4, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) released a new memorandum to patent examiners in Technology Centers 2100, 2600, and 3600, providing targeted reminders on evaluating subject matter eligibility...more
The USPTO has issued an internal memorandum that may make it easier to patent software, in particular AI-related software inventions. In recent years, the USPTO has found certain software inventions to be patent-ineligible...more
While the precedent set by Recentive Analytics, Inc. v. Fox Corp.[1] presents a formidable challenge, it does not represent a complete foreclosure of patent protection for machine learning inventions. The court’s opinion,...more
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence has created unprecedented opportunities for innovation, but securing patent protection for AI-related inventions remains challenging under current U.S. patent law....more
We all know that a patent application can be a significant asset to a company and its valuation. However, too many companies mistakenly believe that all software is not patentable. As a result, they are failing to file patent...more
Blockchain is becoming central to more FinTech patent portfolios than ever – but it’s harder to obtain protection on blockchain than most other technologies. The US Supreme Court’s decision in Alice v. CLS Bank (2014)...more
In the case of In re Bongiorno, No. 2020-1835, 2021 WL 1997454, at *4 (Fed. Cir. May 19, 2021), patent applicant James Bongiorno appealed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's (PTAB) finding that two of his patent applications...more
Partner Mauricio Uribe hosted a webinar presenting, "Trends and Changes in View of the USPTO's Updated Revised Guidance." Topics Include: • Summary of the October 2019 Update to the Revised Guidance •...more
Software Claims Survive Section 101 Challenge and Are Found to Be Directed to Patent-Eligible Subject Matter - In the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) recently designated its...more
Can boilerplate language describing possible variations to an invention ever impact validity of a patent? Many software patents include standard “boilerplate” text describing many ways to implement an invention, such as by...more
As of Tuesday, June 16th, we have been living with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's "2014 Interim Guidance on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility" ("Guidance") for six months. Although the USPTO subsequently issued some...more
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
In two separate decisions involving an § 101 analysis of subject-matter eligibility of business methods patents (CBMs), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) found that the...more
It has been a challenging year for software patent owners following the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International. Since that ruling was handed down, a large number of software patents have been...more
The United States Patent Office periodically issues guidelines for Examiners, often in response to a recent court decision or new statute. These guidelines do not have the force of law, but nevertheless establish the specific...more
Last week, we filed two amicus briefs with the Supreme Court in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank, one on behalf of Advanced Biological Laboratories (ABL), and one for Ronald M. Benrey (Benrey). It goes without saying that this is the...more
Over the past few weeks, the United States federal courts and the patent office have issued several significant decisions addressing the patent subject matter eligibility of software-related inventions in the United States....more
Ronald J. Schoenbaum is a partner in Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP's Orange County and Silicon Valley, Calif., offices. He focuses on patent prosecution, strategic patent portfolio management, and infringement/validity...more