With the weather as cold as it’s been in DC lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time reading by the fire. And what better way to use that time than to read about patents! For those of you, like me, for whom that sounds like fun—here’s a few things I’ve run across lately that…
Tag Archive for Alice
The “Alice Storm” Is More Of A Drizzle
by Josh Landau •
You might be familiar with Bob Sachs’ term “Alice Storm.” Sachs and his co-authors over at Bilski Blog argue that “Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank has had a dramatic impact on the allowability of computer implemented inventions.” I disagree, and some newly released data from the Patent Office seems to back me up. Alice has…
It’s The Claim Language—Except When It Isn’t
by Josh Landau •
Last week, the Federal Circuit handed down a decision in Visual Memory v. NVIDIA, deciding that the Visual Memory1 cache patents are patent-eligible under § 101. Unfortunately, in doing so the Federal Circuit makes the same mistake they’ve made a few times now—they’ve looked at the specification, not the claims, in order to justify finding…
Face Palm Watch: CAFC Says Configuring an Option per User is Patent-Eligible
by Matt Levy •
Bad software patents apparently still have a few protectors on the Federal Circuit: in its recent decision in Bascom Global Internet Services, Inc. v. AT&T Mobility LLC, a Federal Circuit panel said that a patent for configuring a content filtering option per network user is patent eligible. After making a lot of progress in the…
Alice Corp. Oral Argument Goes to the Dogs
by Matt Levy •
This video was inspired by John Oliver’s Real Animals, Fake Paws project. You can hear the full audio of the oral argument here.
A Patent Troll Explains the Drop in Suits
by Matt Levy •
Apple Wants to Compete on Patent Portfolio, Not Products
by Matt Levy •
(Cross-posted on DisCo) Apple has been an odd player in the patent debate. On the one hand, it’s the company that gets sued by patent trolls more than any other. As a result, it supports most of the patent reform bill, and Apple uses the Covered Business Method (CBM) program far more than any other…
CLS Bank v. Alice: Don’t Lose Your Head
by Matt Levy •
The patent world was waiting with bated breath for the Federal Circuit’s decision in CLS Bank International v. Alice Corp. At last, we thought, we would have a ruling on when software is patentable and when it isn’t. As you may have heard, we had no such luck when the decision was issued last Friday.…
“The Black Box is Never Described”: CLS Tries to Teach the Federal Circuit the Difference Between Methods Claims and Systems Claims, and about Abstract Ideas
by Brendan Coffman •
For those who are interested, a reader has shared a transcript of the oral arguments in CLS Bank v. Alice en banc at the Federal Circuit. As we have written, a lot is at stake in this case as it takes a deep dive into the eligibility of many software patents. There are many issues…
Patents in the News
by Ali Sternburg •
Facebook sued over ‘like’ button (BBC News) Facebook is facing legal action over its use of the “like” button and other features of the social network… It is being sued by a patent-holding company acting on behalf of a dead Dutch programmer called Joannes Jozef Everardus van Der Meer. Apple, Samsung continue complex relationship as patent…