Prof. Pamela Samuelson is the Richard M. Sherman Distinguished Professor of Law and Information at the University of California, Berkeley. She is recognized as a pioneer in digital copyright law, intellectual property, cyberlaw and information policy. We’re pleased to be able to republish this post, which first appeared on Patently-O. “Neither the Copyright Statute nor…
Blog Posts
Blackbird Gets Wings Clipped In Lighting Litigation
by Josh Landau • • 0 Comments
Last week I wrote about Blackbird Technologies, a relatively new patent troll with some ethical and practical issues. As I found out via Patently-O, it turns out that I’m not the only one who was wondering how they were going to keep confidential information away from their lawyers. In Blackbird Tech. v. Service Lighting et…
TC Heartland Attacks The Heart Of Patent Forum Shopping
by Josh Landau • • 6 Comments
The Supreme Court decided TC Heartland v. Kraft on Monday. The decision addresses a procedural point with huge effects on patent litigation. The Problem The basic problem before this case was that it was very easy to pick the court you wanted to sue someone in; it’s called “forum shopping.” And (if you’re a…
SCOTUS Taking Case On Partial Institution Of IPRs
by Josh Landau • • 0 Comments
One of the biggest changes coming out of the 2011 America Invents Act (AIA) was the creation of the inter partes review (IPR) procedure, which allows people to challenge the validity of patents after they’ve issued. Today, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to determine whether an IPR can be “instituted” on only some of the…
The Patent Troll’s New Clothes
by Josh Landau • • 3 Comments
You might have been reading a bit about Blackbird Technologies lately. Not the Blackbird Raytheon bought in 2014 (cybersecurity) or the Blackbird Etsy bought in 2016 (AI algorithms). (It’s a popular name, apparently.) This one’s a troll. Tailoring a Patent Troll Blackbird was formed in 2014 by attorneys who worked for two major law firms.…
AIPLA Signs on to IPO’s Misguided Proposal on § 101
by Josh Landau • • 0 Comments
AIPLA, the bar association for intellectual property lawyers, just released their recommendation and report on reforming § 101. § 101 is the portion of the Patent Act that sets out what’s eligible to be patented, and what isn’t. AIPLA’s basic complaint is that the Supreme Court has created uncertainty about what is eligible for patenting…
Patent Owners Don’t All Hate IPRs
by Matt Levy • • 1 Comment
Bloomberg BNA and AIPLA just released a nationwide survey of patent attorneys and agents asking about their experiences with inter partes review at the Patent Trial and Appeals Board. Bloomberg BNA and AIPLA did a survey of attitudes towards inter partes review (IPR). Among attorneys representing patent owners, 48% said that they thought that over…
Why IPO Is Wrong About Section 101
by Matt Levy • • 4 Comments
It certainly seems that the technology industry is producing better and more exciting products than ever. Virtual reality is becoming, well, a reality; we have drones, self-driving cars, better artificial intelligence, amazing new games, and smarter smartphones. These innovations are all driven by software, even though the landscape for software patents has changed over the…
Patent Reform Is Back on Congress’ Agenda
by Matt Levy • • 2 Comments
Here’s some good news from the House of Representatives. Chairman Goodlatte of the House Judiciary Committee announced the agenda for this Congress, and here’s a key item: We’ll also work on reforms to discourage abusive patent litigation and keep U.S. patent laws up to date. Collectively, these reforms will help alleviate the wasteful burden of…
Why No One Should Listen to Qualcomm About Patents
by Matt Levy • • 3 Comments
Qualcomm is a major opponent, perhaps the strongest opponent, of patent litigation reform. It’s becoming pretty obvious why. A few weeks ago, the Korean Fair Trade Commission went after Qualcomm for its anti-competitive licensing practices. This time, it’s the U.S. Federal Trade Commission going after Qualcomm for its licensing practices. I wrote about the KFTC…