It has been about nine months since my last patentable subject matter (aka “Alice”) update, tracking cases and other important information in the wake of the Alice Supreme Court decision. Things continue to improve at the Court of Appeals for ...

Tagged with: IP Frontiers Wayne F. Reinke

On Jan. 22, 2019, the Supreme Court provided its decision in Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.[1] Despite receiving little publicity outside the patent world, it nonetheless has implications for small businesses. The decision provided clarification to the ...

Tagged with: Alexsandar Nikolic IP Frontiers

Signed into law on Oct. 11, 2018, the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act (MMA) reforms U.S. Copyright law in significant ways that will affect the licensing of digital music. Pursuant to pre-MMA copyright law, “mechanical” licenses for reproduction ...

Tagged with: Annette Kahler IP Frontiers

The start of a new year provides the opportunity for a highly subjective retrospective on 35 years of patent law — where we’ve been and where we might be going. Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas (1965-1969) was reputed to have ...

Tagged with: IP Frontiers Philip E. Hansen

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has decided that it will change the claim construction standard it previously used in inter-parties proceedings. On Nov. 13, 2018, the USPTO, in inter-parties reviews and post-grant reviews before the Patent Trial ...

Tagged with: IP Frontiers Nick Mesiti

Blockchain is a decentralized database, often referred to as a distributed ledger where transactions are confirmed and recorded. The system is sturdy and secure, as information cannot be altered once it is entered into the ledger. By checking the blockchain ...

Tagged with: IP Frontiers Shanna Sanders

The United States Copyright Act contains one of the great contradictions in American jurisprudence. Copyright automatically inheres in a work at the moment the work is created. In other words, an author of any work of art has copyright rights ...

Tagged with: IP Frontiers Thomas L. Sica

Each new startup begins with an idea — but what is the best way to protect that idea? For many mechanical and medical device startups, that idea may be protected using patents. But where do you start? For most startups, ...

Tagged with: IP Frontiers Jacquelyn Graff

About five months have gone by since my last update on the state of patentable subject matter after the 2014 Alice Supreme Court decision and its progeny. A number of important developments have taken place during this time, mostly positive ...

Tagged with: IP Frontiers Wayne F. Reinke

When we browse a website containing an image, that image may be retrieved from a third party, rather than from the author of the website. Sometimes, unbeknownst to the website author, the linked image infringes someone else’s copyright in that ...

Tagged with: IP Frontiers Kristian E. Ziegler

What do barbeque sauce, wine and law firms have in common? Each frequently finds themselves at the center of legal disputes over the right to use and/or register one’s family name (or “surname”) as a trademark.[1] Indeed, our region is ...

Tagged with: Alana M. Fuierer IP Frontiers

The timing and sufficiency of an assignment document can become critical for protecting the rights of the assignee. These rights include the assignee’s right to sue for infringement, ownership right and right to claim priority. Right to sue for infringement ...

Tagged with: IP Frontiers Stephen P. Scuderi