02 April

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Recent Cases Show Federal Circuit Is Concerned About ‘Over Abstracting’ Rejections of Method/ Process Patents

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In one of its latest opinions attempting to parse precedent on the subject matter eligibility of software, method of use, and business method patents that arguably involve application of laws of nature or recitations of well-known, conventional methods and techniques, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that a patent directed to a method for administering a naturally occurring beta amino acid to cause an increase in the concentration of a naturally occurring amino acid combination in muscle and brain tissues was subject matter eligible for patent protection (Natural Alternatives Int’l, Inc. v. Creative Compounds, LLC, No. 18-1295,...

02 April

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Request for Amici: Tell the Supreme Court to Clarify Section 101

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On March 8, Foster Pepper filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court, case number 18-1199, challenging the Federal Circuit’s emerging “physical realm” test as part of its Alice/Section 101 analysis. Amicus briefs in support of our cert petition are most welcome to assist the Court’s understanding of why it is important to grant cert and clarify the correct patent eligibility test for computer-implemented inventions. We are also seeking amicus brief writers for the many amici we have already secured. These efforts will help clear up the uncertainty innovators and patent holders face in cutting-edge fields of our modern economy and,...

02 April

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The Federal Circuit Just ‘Swallowed All of Patent Law’ in ChargePoint v. SemaConnect

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In ChargePoint Inc. v. SemaConnect, Inc., (2018-1739) the Federal Circuit considered the following claim: An apparatus, comprising: a control device to turn electric supply on and off to enable and disable charge transfer for electric vehicles; a transceiver to communicate requests for charge transfer with a remote server and receive communications from the remote server via a data control unit that is connected to the remote server through a wide area network; and a controller, coupled with the control device and the transceiver, to cause the control device to turn the electric supply on based on communication from the remote server. The Court inexplicably stated in its...

01 April

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IP and Innovation on Capitol Hill: Week of April 1: Medicare Drug Pricing, Lost Einsteins and Data Privacy

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This week on Capitol Hill will include a series of hearings related to tech and innovation topics on Tuesday at the House of Representatives, where debate will focus on the 2020 budget for NASA and the National Institutes of Health, as well as on technology issues at Veterans Affairs. Senate hearings will take a look at Alzheimer’s research and funding for the Department of Energy. On Wednesday, the Senate IP Subcommittee will hold a hearing to look at gender diversity issues in the U.S. patent system. Elsewhere in D.C., the Cato Institute will look at Medicare drug pricing issues, a...

01 April

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In Honor of April Fools’ Day: Diving Into Deepfakes

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“While the California bill is chiefly aimed at criminalizing deepfakes, it has implications for intellectual property in that it reaches conduct that may not be easily addressed by the enforcement of existing IP law.” Deepfake technology has made headlines recently for its use in creating fake portrayals of celebrities, but the long term implications could be much more sinister than phony renderings of Scarlett Johansson appearing in porn videos or President Barack Obama calling Trump a profanity. One deepfakes website, ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com, includes a large gallery of images of faces that are entirely computer-generated. The site can create these artificial intelligence (AI)-based faces using something called...

01 April

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How the EPO and USPTO Guidance Will Help Shape the Examination of Artificial Intelligence Inventions

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It is safe to say that Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are hot topics and, as with any rapidly growing technological area on the industry side, there is also a rapidly growing number of patent applications being filed. In view of this, the European Patent Office (EPO) issued new guidance for examination for AI and ML patent applications in November 2018. Meanwhile, in January 2019, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) also issued revised guidance directed to what constitutes patent eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. §101. Although the USPTO’s revised guidance is more generally directed to software...

31 March

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Latest Apple/Qualcomm Ruling Highlights Question of ‘Unwilling Licensees’

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“If people take an extreme position such as, ‘You can have a royalty when you pry it from my cold, dead hands,’ that’s classic holdout behavior by someone who is gambling that, in a worst-case scenario, they’ll just pay a reasonable royalty decided by a court.” – David Long On March 20, U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel of the Southern District of California issued an order denying a motion by Apple, which was seeking partial judgment against Qualcomm on that company’s claim that it had fulfilled its fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) obligations for licensing its standard-essential patents (SEPs). As a result,...

30 March

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UKIPO Invalidates Babybel Cheese Shape Mark

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Fromageries Bel, owners of cheese brands including Boursin, Leerdammer and The Laughing Cow, have been dealt a blow by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), with their UK trademark registration for the shape of the company’s popular Babybel cheese having been declared invalid. It has been possible to register non-traditional trademarks, including colors and 3D shapes, for many years. However, the requirements for registration of these types of marks have changed substantially since they were first introduced, with significant attention currently being paid to the precise way in which the marks are defined. As a result, an increasing number of non-traditional...

29 March

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‘Bad Patents’ Are Just Another Big Tech False Narrative

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“The mistake the ‘bad patent’ narrative makes is that a patent is less a technical instrument than it is an economic instrument. A patent is an instrument of profit, and it must be treated as such to encourage people to advance technology by filing patents.” Over the last 15 years, Congress, the courts and the USPTO have gutted the patent system. Fortunately, USPTO Director Andrei Iancu has been taking important steps to reverse some of the damage, with revised 101 guidance and changes in the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). But the most important thing Iancu is doing is silencing the...

29 March

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Other Barks & Bites: New Register of Copyrights, Win for Qualcomm at ITC and Big Tech Up in Arms Over New EU Copyright Rules

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Bites (noun): more meaty news to sink your teeth into. Barks (noun): peripheral noise worth your attention. This week in Other Barks & Bites: Karyn Temple is appointed Register of Copyrights; the International Trade Commission recommends excluding certain iPhone models for infringing Qualcomm patent claims; the EU approves new copyright rules which will affect online media platforms; Senators Tillis and Coons move forward with stakeholder discussions on a legislative fix to Section 101 of patent law; Peloton responds to copyright infringement suit by dropping online cycling classes; Amazon adds nearly 1,000 jobs in Austin, TX; the District of Delaware tosses out willful infringement claims...