Unpatentable subject matter
A pair of Federal Circuit opinions last week rejected patents involving patent-ineligible subject matter.
What does that include, you ask?
As Blawgletter noted last year in "You Still Can't Patent Ideas":
Section 101 of the Patent Act allows patents on "any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of
Another Term, another chance to gut class actions
If you've watched the Supreme Court over the last several years, you may have marveled at how earnestly some of the justices have worked to render Rule 23 a dead letter. Behold:
Snares
Patent law features so many traps that even the wary fall in one now and then. It happened again last week. This time the ruling concerned standing, an issue that goes to the power of a court to decide a case.
A narrow license
The case involved a patent on "Gelatinous Elastomer Compositions and
As the June 16th launch date for The Contingency gets ever closer, Blawgletter post from five years ago offers a preview of the sort of subjects The Contingency will deal with on a more regular basis.
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In a couple of weeks, Blawgletter will end its eight-year run as my principal law blog.
On Tuesday, June 16, I will launch The Contingency: Insights on Sharing the Risks and Rewards of High-Stakes Business Disputes. You'll get more info on The Contingency, including how to subscribe.
Turning down the lights on Blawgletter
The U.S. Supreme Court has taken away a potentially devastating defense from companies that induce others to infringe patents.
The Court ruled in Commil USA, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc., No. 13-896, slip op. at 10 (U.S. May 26, 2015), that "a defendant's belief regarding patent validity" does not provide "a defense to a
Apple v. Samsung Saga
In 2012 and 2013, two Silicon Valley juries awarded Apple a total of $929,860,041 for Samsung's use in its smartphones and tablets of three intellectual property types — design patents, utility patents, and trade dress (or overall image).
On May 18, 2015, the Federal Circuit affirmed the judgment that
Focus on substance over procedure
The Supreme Court just vacated a judgment that enforced a six-year statute of limitations against beneficiaries of a employer savings plan.
The ruling reinforces the view that this Court feels little love for limitations defenses. It suggests the Court prefers getting to legal substance.
Claims under ERISA
The Employee Retirement
Policy debate
If a firm that performs steps A, B, and C of a "method" patent induces the firm's customers to take step D — the final one — does the firm infringe the patent?
The question — which a two-judge majority on a Federal Circuit panel answered no — produced 62 pages of opinions
Nuts and bolts, part two
Last time, we went over how to set up and get ready for an interview of a fact witness. Now we get to the main event.
These tips apply mainly in the context of gathering information about who knows what and who will make a credible witness for the trier