News & Analysis as of

Section 101 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

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP

USPTO Issues Guidance Clarifying Subject Matter Eligibility for AI and Software Claims

On August 4, the USPTO issued a Memorandum to examiners in Technology Centers 2100, 2600, and 3600, providing reminders and clarifications on evaluating subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. This guidance is...more

ArentFox Schiff

USPTO Aims to Boost Patent Eligibility of AI and ML Inventions

ArentFox Schiff on

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued new guidance to clarify and improve the evaluation of patent eligibility for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) inventions in order to foster...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

Dancing with Abstract Ideas: Patent Eligibility in 2025

In June 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int'l, establishing a now-infamous two-step, judicially-imposed test for patent subject-matter eligibility that narrowed the broad statutory eligibility...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

Microprocessor v. Abacus: The Fictional Patent-Eligibility Debate between a Patent Attorney and a Retired Supreme Court Justice

JUSTICE HÄAGEN-DAZS:  Imagine King Tut lounging outside his pyramid, surrounded by gold and bad financial instincts. He's handing out chits left and right, "Good for one unit of gold, redeemable later." He's got an abacus guy...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Developments in Patent Subject Matter Eligibility for Software-Related Inventions, in View of Guvera v. Spotify

Womble Bond Dickinson on

Innovators seeking patent protection for software inventions should be aware that all software inventions face patent-eligibility issues. Nevertheless, patent practitioners who are experienced in the art of software patent...more

WilmerHale

USPTO Issues Guidance Update on Subject Matter Eligibility of Artificial Intelligence

WilmerHale on

On July 17, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published guidance regarding the patent subject matter eligibility of claims concerning technology applicable to artificial intelligence (AI)....more

BakerHostetler

USPTO AI Examination Update Provides New Example Cases Analyzing Subject Matter Eligibility Under §101

BakerHostetler on

In a July 16 press release, The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that it issued a guidance update on “patent subject matter eligibility to address innovation in critical emerging technologies including...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Senior Circuit Judge Issues Split Decision on Patent Eligibility of Claims Directed to Restricting Access to Computer Files

Senior Circuit Judge Bryson of the Federal Circuit, sitting by designation in the District of Delaware, recently granted-in-part and denied-in-part a Rule 12(c) motion for judgment based on patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C....more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

[Webinar] The Weird And Evolving Landscape Of Software And Business Method Patent Eligibility - March 9th, 10:00 am - 11:15 am CST

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

Womble Bond Dickinson

Patent Protection for Entertainment Software Inventions

Womble Bond Dickinson on

Innovators seeking patent protection for entertainment software inventions should be aware that all software inventions face patent-eligibility issues. Nevertheless, patent practitioners who are experienced in the art of...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Ambiguity Begets Ambiguity: A Legislative Attempt to Bring Clarity to Patentable Subject Matter May Bring More Confusion

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

On August 2, 2022, Sen. T. Tillis introduced the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (S.4734) in an effort to clarify which inventions are actually patentable and to codify those that are not. Since the Supreme Court handed...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

The EFF is Patently Wrong

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

Quinn Emanuel

Lead Article: U.S. District Judge Alan Albright Grants First Two Section 101 Motions

Quinn Emanuel on

Since his appointment in 2018, U.S. District Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas has become one of the Nation’s most influential judges for patent litigation. Last December, he granted his first two motions...more

Holland & Knight LLP

D. Ariz.: Exchanging Geographic and Demographic Data is not Patent Eligible under Section 101

Holland & Knight LLP on

In the case USADATA Inc. v. DataWidget LLC, No. CV-21-00526-PHX-DLR, 2021 WL 5084283 (D. Ariz. Nov. 1, 2021), the patent at issue is titled, "System and Method for Selling Customer-Specific Data Subsets on a Third-Party...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

What a Deal! Car Dealers Retain Control over Their Own Data

McDermott Will & Schulte on

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s conclusion that there is no conflict between an Arizona statute aimed at strengthening privacy protections for consumers whose data is collected by car...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

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

Could Alice Be Used to Invalidate Diehr? Of Course It Could

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

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Stanford’s Method for Inferring Haplotype Phase is Not Patent Eligible

Stanford University applied for a U.S. patent for statistical methods of predicting haplotype phase. In 2019, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board rejected the application as ineligible subject matter. Last week, a panel of the...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Federal Circuit Confirms Data Privacy Patent Is an Invalid Abstract Idea under Section 101

Holland & Knight LLP on

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit looked at a patent directed to a data privacy system that described users operating mobile device apps to "socialize, bank, shop, and navigate." As users operate such apps,...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Court: Improved User Experience Doesn't Improve Computer Functionality Under Alice

Holland & Knight LLP on

In 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah dismissed Simio's lawsuit against FlexSim Software, finding that the asserted patent was ineligible under Section 101. Simio responded by asking the court to vacate...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

Simio, LLC v. FlexSim Software Products, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2020)

This decision is bad.  Not an American Axle level of bad, but still quite far from good. Simio sued FlexSim in the District of Utah for alleged infringement of its U.S. Patent No. 8,156,468.  FlexSim moved for dismissal on...more

Holland & Knight LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Another Section 101 Case

Holland & Knight LLP on

Those waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on Section 101 were, once again, disappointed this week. On Nov. 16, 2020, in the case of WhitServe LLC v. Donuts Inc. et al., case no. 20-325 (U.S. Supreme Court), the...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

On the Patent Eligibility of Graphical User Interfaces: Part I

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

Blank Rome LLP

Issues to Consider before Asserting a Software Patent

Blank Rome LLP on

Software patents have garnered a lot of attention in recent years due, at least in part, to the proliferation of software-enabled devices, such as smartphones and tablets, and the use of software to control a range of devices...more

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