Patent
IAM on In re Bilski: Tightening The Standards For Software Patents
Joff Wild of IAM Magazine predicts that the Federal Circuit’s en banc rehearing of the In re Bilsk case signals a move to restrict the patentability of software and business methods. He predicts that the Federal Circuits decision will bring the United States closer in line with how Europe treats this subject matter. He provides [...]
Method of Rewarding Waiting Customers
A statement in a IBM patent application caught my eye and made me wonder whether the yet-to-be-released-results of the Federal Circuit’s en Banc rehearing of In re Bilski [Patently-O's coverage] could effect the patentability of the claims in this application. In Bilski the court will consider, among other things, whether a method or process must [...]
Google Seeks Patent on Chinese Spell Check Program
A patent application, published on January 31, shows Google is continuing to develop for the Chinese market. The application discloses a program for spell checking non-Roman character based languages, such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Although the summary of the invention section provides that the program may cover any non-Roman based language, the dependent claims [...]
Suburban Networking: Silicon Prairie Social
Tonight, the first Silicon Prairie Social was held at Mullen’s Bar and Grill in Lisle, Illinois. Similar to the Tech Cocktail events in Chicago, the Silicon Prairie Social was designed to connect "tech professionals, entrepreneurs, service providers, Internet professionals, Web 2.0 and startup companies, the mobile industry, and mobile marketing professionals." The goals of the [...]
Peer-to-Patent Pilots in Europe
Linux.com a has review of the Peer-to-Patent pilot, which I reported on earlier. Beth Noveck of the New York Law School, a leader in establishing the pilot, is noted in the article saying that the UK Patent office will launch a similar pilot for UK patents. She also expects that the European Patent Office will [...]
Reason in the Prior Art: Applicability Beyond Chemical
Takeda Chemical Indus. v. Alphapharm Pty., Ltd., No. 06-1329, slip op. (Fed. Cir. 2007). Alphapharm sought FDA approval to a market generic version of Takeda’s drug ACTOS (U.S. Patent 4,687,777), which is used to treat diabetes. Takeda sued Alphapharm and the district court rejected Alphapharm’s obviousness attack on the patent. The Federal Circuit affirmed. It [...]
Noncompeting Plaintiffs: Irreparable Harm Analysis
Previously I reported on the CSIRO v. Buffalo Technology case. There, the district court found CSIRO’s patent (No. 5,487,069) covered all 802.11a/g wireless technology and granted a permanent injunction against a wireless LAN vendor. CSIRO does not practice its patents, but instead seeks licenses from third parties. The court’s irreparable harm analysis is particularly interesting [...]
Injunction Granted for License-Only Plaintiff: IEEE 802.11a and 802.11g Technology
Information Week reported that the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a permanent injunction against Buffalo Technology, a wireless LAN equipment vendor, in favor of the Australian science agency CSIRO. The court found Buffalo was violating CSIRO’s patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,069) that is a core component of the IEEE 802.11a/g [...]
Commissioner Doll on Peer-to-Patent Pilot
Listen to the Patent and Trademark Office Commissioner John Doll discuss the Peer-to-Patent pilot, which is now live. He notes the particular difficulty that examiners have in finding prior art in the software field. Consequently the pilot is limited to technology center 2100, which handles computer hardware and software applications. The goal the pilot is [...]
Test Marketing Your Invention
The Invent Blog linked to an article from the Wall Street Journal entitled Testing the Marketability Of Your Product Idea. The article suggests that you should test market your product or invention by soliciting feedback from (1) friends and family, (2) those who might understand your product’s industry or customers, (3) employees and customers in [...]