There is a reason why parties negotiating settlement agreements in patent cases often devote considerable time and energy to negotiating language covering use of patented technology by the licensee’s customers and downstream users. Despite, or perhaps because of, this attention, disputes sometimes arise. Illustratively, Microsoft was recently denied summary judgment on its claim that Eolas […]
Archive | Uncategorized
Check Fraud Prevention Patent Passes Bilski Test
Saying the issue was a “close call,” a Missouri court has ruled that method and apparatus claims directed to using encrypted codes to prevent check fraud are patent-eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Advanced Software Design Corp. v. Fiserv, Inc., No. 4:07CV185 (E.D. Mo. May 15, 2012). The question came before the Court on the […]
Notes on the New Detroit Patent Office
This article was originally published in the May 7, 2012, issue of the Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Here is a link to my previous comment on the Detroit Patent Office. In July, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will open a branch office in downtown Detroit. You may have heard a year or so ago […]
Intellectual Property Assignments Are Crucial
This item is mainly for non-lawyers. The worst thing in the world is to have difficulty obtaining an assignment of source code ownership from a software developer, or for the developer to depart with valuable trade secrets. Working from the context of medical device development, my former colleague Steve Hansen has written a great post […]
Software Claims Held Patent Eligible
A Northern District of California court has rejected an argument that “a method of executing an instruction” was not patent eligible subject matter. Nazomi Communications, Inc. v. Samsung Telecommunications, Inc., No. C-10-05545 (N.D. Cal. March 21, 2012). The representative claim, reproduced below, recited a method by which a Java interpreter could more efficiently access byte […]
Software Patent (and Other) Lessons From Prometheus v. Mayo
In addressing claims directed to medical diagnoses, the Supreme Court’s opinion in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. may actually lend some clarity to questions of patentability pertaining to software patents. True, a clearer understanding of software patentability might not be the most obvious take-away from Prometheus. And we are still a long way from […]
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 […]