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PublishedFebruary 28, 2014

Roundup of This Week’s Patent News: February 28 Edition

This has been quite a busy week for patents!

First of all, a few Supreme Court updates:  On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard two oral arguments on patent issues, Octane and Highmark.  Yesterday, CCIA filed an amicus brief in another Supreme Court case, Alice v. CLS Bank.

Next up, some action in the Senate:  Yesterday, Senators McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Rockefeller (D-W.V.) introduced the Transparency in Assertion of Patents Act to help fix the demand letter problem, which joins the eleven other bills that have been introduced in the House and Senate.  And on Monday, 42 state Attorneys General sent a letter to the Senate urging patent reform.

Also, on Tuesday, Patent Progress released a video telling the stories of two entrepreneurs in Illinois whose small businesses have been harmed by patent trolls.  It really shows how much we need patent reform.  Conveniently, there’s a new way to tell your Senator that you want reform.  This week, EFF, CCIA, Engine Advocacy, and the App Developers Alliance launched a petition on Trolling Effects for inventors, entrepreneurs, investors, and concerned citizens to tell the Senate they want patent reform.  Sign it!

Did we miss something?  Questions or suggestions?  Feel free to leave a comment below, mention us on Twitter (@PatentProgress), or email us: patentprogress[AT]ccianet[DOT]org

Ali Sternburg

, CCIA

Ali Sternburg is Vice President, Information Policy at the Computer & Communications Industry Association, where she focuses on intermediary liability, copyright, and other areas of intellectual property. Ali joined CCIA during law school in 2011, and previously served as Senior Policy Counsel, Policy Counsel, and Legal Fellow. She is also an Inaugural Fellow at the Internet Law & Policy Foundry.

She received her J.D. in 2012 from American University Washington College of Law, where she was a Student Attorney in the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic, President of the Intellectual Property Law Society, Senior Symposium Chair and Senior Marketing Manager for the Intellectual Property Brief, and a Dean’s Fellow at the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property.

She graduated from Harvard College in 2009 where she studied Government and Music, wrote her senior honors thesis on “Theoretical and Legal Views on U.S. Government Involvement in Musical Creativity Online,” and interned at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School.

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