On Monday, the Supreme Court granted, vacated, and remanded (GVRed) the Federal Circuit’s decision in Emerson Electric v. SIPCO in light of this year’s Thryv decision. Emerson was challenging the Federal Circuit’s overturning of the USPTO’s determination that the SIPCO patent was eligible for review under the covered business method (CBM) program. With the Court’s…
Tag Archive for covered business method
“The Same Or Substantially The Same Prior Art Or Arguments”
by Josh Landau •
Director Andrei Iancu has been making the rounds since his confirmation. In a recent interview, he suggested that “[t]here is, for sure, a perception problem in the IP community with the PTAB” and that “when you have a perception problem you have a real problem in the sense that if the IP community loses faith…
IPR Successes: The Next Five Years
by Josh Landau •
Over the past month, I’ve shown just how successful the inter partes review (IPR) program has been in its first five years. IPR has saved billions of dollars and helped everyone from city governments to realtors to the targets of patent trolls funded by foreign countries. Those stories are listed below: IPR Successes: Trolls and…
Previewing ContentGuard v. Apple and Google at the Federal Circuit
by Josh Landau •
This Thursday, June 8, the Federal Circuit will hold oral argument in ContentGuard Holdings, Inc. v. Apple, Inc. and in ContentGuard Holdings, Inc. v Google, Inc. (The Google case also includes a number of major Android phone manufacturers, such as Samsung, HTC, and Motorola.) Both cases have roughly similar histories, and both appeals deal with…
Patent Progress’s Guide to Patent Reform Legislation
by Matt Levy •

There are now twelve bills that have been introduced this Congress to deal with some aspect of the patent troll issue. We thought it might be helpful to give you a quick rundown of each of the currently pending bills: Innovation Act (H.R. 3309) Patent Transparency and Improvements Act (S. 1720) Patent Quality Improvement Act…
Senator Schumer Explains It All on Covered Business Method Review
by Matt Levy •
At today’s Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, “Protecting Small Businesses and Promoting Innovation by Limiting Patent Troll Abuse,” Senator Schumer explained why we need to make the Covered Business Method Review program more widely available: I couldn’t have said it better myself. Transcript of video:
Over 2 dozen organizations from diverse industries support making CBM widely available
by Matt Levy •
Today a group of 26 organizations (including CCIA) sent a letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committee leadership endorsing legislation to make Covered Business Method review more widely available in order to help combat patent trolls. The organizations represent a wide variety of industries, including airlines, supermarkets, hotels, chain restaurants, realtors, retailers, and the…
Roundup of This Week’s Patent News: September 6 Edition
by Ali Sternburg •
Happy Friday! This week brought new studies on patent trolls. One study, by PatentFreedom, brought even more proof that expanding Covered Business Method (CBM) review is essential to help #fixpatents, as the number of trolls using business method patents has increased from 168 to 1423 in eight years; almost 40% of trolls use a business…
New Study by PatentFreedom Shows We Need Expanded CBM Review
by Matt Levy •
If there were ever any doubt that expanding the Covered Business Method review program would have a major impact on the patent troll problem, a newly released study from PatentFreedom should put those doubts to rest. According to the study, patent trolls’ use of business method patents is increasing quickly, and more and more non-tech…
Roundup of This Week’s Patent News: August 2 Edition
by Ali Sternburg •
Good morning! Here’s some patent news from this week. On Tuesday, a whole bunch of prominent companies (many in non-tech industries, like retail and food) sent a letter to Congress encouraging them to expand Covered Business Method (CBM) review; Patent Progress has pointed out repeatedly ([1], [2], [3]) that expanding CBM review is the most…