Federal district courts have been split, and the courts of appeals thus far silent, on what allegation of “loss” a plaintiff must make to state a case under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. 18 U.S.C. § 1030. The CFAA, a criminal statute barring unauthorized access of specified categories of computers, provides for a civil […]
Detroit Patent Office to Cover Software
Detroit is excited about the branch office of the United States Patent and Trademark Office opening downtown in July. And with good reason. Moreover, based on the USPTO’s recent job posting for people with computer backgrounds to serve as administrative law judges in Detroit, it appears that the Detroit Patent Office will go beyond the […]
Case Note: Copyright First Sale Doctrine
A California court recently reaffirmed the principle that a restrictive software license is not a “sale” for purposes of the federal copyright laws, and that the license could not be used to assert a defense to copyright infringement based on the first sale doctrine. Adobe Systems Inc. v. Hoops Enterprise LLC, No. 4:10-cv-02769-CW (N.D. Cal., Feb. […]
Introducing the Non-Lawyers’ Pages
While this site presents issues mainly of interest to other lawyers, those issues are vitally important to the non-lawyers who work in the information technology industry. Therefore, I am introducing The SWIP Report’s “Non-lawyers” pages. Here you will find basic information relating to protecting and transferring intellectual property related to software. I have started with […]
Will the Supreme Court Revisit Software Patents?
Last fall, in Ultramercial, LLC v. Hulu, LLC [1], the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals surprised many people by upholding a patent claim, reproduced in footnote [2], directed to a “method for distribution of products over the Internet via a facilitator.” One of the defendants in that case, game provider WildTangent, recently asked the U.S. […]
Software Patents, Copyrights, Morality, and Pragmatism
Regardless of your philosophical leanings on the issue of software patents, if you’re in the software business, you need to worry about them. A lot of people, such as the inventor of modern e-mail, are opposed to software patents. I have certainly written patent applications with many software engineers who did not like the idea. […]
More on Google and Privacy
Google’s new privacy policy and terms of use are, as I have commented, scary stuff. Two authors at Slate magazine, coming at the issue from the “open technology” perspective, recently explained why they agree that Google’s simplification of some sixty disparate policies into one is not so benign. As the authors note, “while the new […]
Internet Patent Claims Invalidated by Texas Jury
In a case that has been widely publicized, a Texas jury has invalidated claims of two patents that cover much of today’s World Wide Web. I won’t duplicate the detailed treatment that others have already provided, but this case deserves attention for a lot of reasons. What are they? Well, to start, Texas judges and […]
Is Software Patentable? A Look at How the Patent Office Answers the Question
The landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision of Bilski v. Kappos, 130 S. Ct. 3218, 3225 (2010), failed to provide a clear test for patentable subject matter. That was over a year-and-a-half ago. Are there now, I wondered, any trends or rules one could discern from Patent Office practice in the wake of Bilski? Can an […]
Google’s Dark Cloud
Even if your business does not use Google applications – even if you intend not to use Google applications – Google’s new privacy policy and terms of use could give Google scary rights to your content. Any business with employees who may use Google (which is to say, any business) is at risk for: public […]