Eight of eighteen defendants named in a complaint for patent infringement sought a writ of mandamus directing the Eastern District of Texas to sever and transfer claims against the respective defendants to various district courts. The Federal Circuit partially granted the writ, directing the district court to “determine whether the claims ‘aris[e] out of the […]
Archive | May, 2012
Copyright Does Not Protect Computer Programming Languages in Europe
In the much-watched case of SAS Institute Inc. v. World Programming Ltd., the European Court of Justice has ruled that European copyright protection does not extend to computer programs. World Programming copied SAS’ programming language without access to, and without decompiling, SAS’ computer code. According to the court, reproducing functionality was not copyright infringement so […]
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A Problem With a Hybrid Contract for Software and Services
Is it a good idea for vendors and customers to enter into a global agreement covering the provision of software, hardware, and software development services? Perhaps not, if one considers the recent decision of the Appellate Court of Illinois in Bruel & Kjaer v. The Village of Bensenville, No. 2-11-0500 (April 26, 2012). There, the […]
When Can a Patent Owner Sue for a Declaratory Judgment?
By Charles Bieneman on May 2, 2012 in Civil Procedure, Declaratory Judgments, Litigation, Software Patents
Does jurisdiction exist over a declaratory judgment action (i.e., is there a case or controversy) where the plaintiff alleges that a party’s possible future use of software would infringe patent claims? The court in Auburn University v. International Business Machines Corp., No. 3:09-cv-694 (M.D. Ala. April 23, 2012), held that there was no justiciable controversy […]
Incorporation by Reference in a Clickwrap Agreement
How explicit does a click-wrap agreement have to be concerning updates and revisions that may later be incorporated into the agreement? In Noll. v. eBay, Inc., No. 5:11-CV-04585 (N.D. Cal., April 23, 2012), the court denied eBay’s motion to dismiss a breach of contract claim in a class-action complaint based on eBay’s revisions to a […]