In Tuesday’s McRO v. Bandai decision, the Federal Circuit has once again reversed a district court’s determination that a computer-implemented invention (aka “software patent”) was not patent eligible under Section 101 of the Patent Act. This continues the Federal Circuit’s recent trend of clarifying the Supreme Court’s two-step patent-eligibility test under Mayo and Alice. Read more
Category: Patent Law
Scalia Law Alums Help Arts & Entertainment Advocacy Clinic Draft Influential Amicus Brief
Last spring, the Arts & Entertainment Advocacy Clinic at Scalia Law School filed an amicus brief on behalf of intellectual property law scholars in the Fox News v. TVEyes copyright infringement case. Assisting the students on the project was practicing IP attorney and Scalia Law alum Jennifer Atkins, who volunteered her time—and the time of her firm, Cloudigy Law—to work closely with the Clinic to craft a professional and influential brief. Read more
Law Professors & Economists Urge Caution on VENUE Act in Letter to Congress
Today, 28 law professors, economists, and political scientists from across the nation submitted a letter to Congress expressing serious concerns about the recent push for sweeping changes to patent litigation venue rules, such as those proposed in the VENUE Act. The letter is copied below, and it can be downloaded here: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2816062 Read more
CPIP Scholars File Amicus Brief in Trading Technologies v. CQG
Earlier this month, CPIP Senior Scholar Adam Mossoff penned an amicus brief in Trading Technologies v. CQG, currently on appeal to the Federal Circuit. The brief was joined by nine other IP scholars, including CPIP Senior Scholars Mark Schultz and Kristen Osenga. Read more
Federal Circuit Brings Some Clarity and Sanity Back to Patent Eligibility Doctrine
By Adam Mossoff and Kevin Madigan
Following the Supreme Court’s four decisions on patent eligibility for inventions under § 101 of the Patent Act, there has been much disruption and uncertainty in the patent system. The patent bar and most stakeholders in the innovation industries have found the Supreme Court’s decisions in Alice Corp. Read more
Proposed CREATES Act Threatens Patent Owners’ Rights
By Erika Lietzan, Kevin Madigan, & Mark Schultz
Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of Senators introduced the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act (or CREATES Act). The proposed bill is aimed at deterring what the bill’s author, Sen. Read more
Do As I Say, Not As I Do: Google’s Patent Transparency Hypocrisy
It is common today to hear that it’s simply impossible to search a field of technology to determine whether patents are valid or if there’s even freedom to operate at all. We hear this complaint about the lack of transparency in finding “prior art” in both the patent application process and about existing patents. Read more
How Strong Patents Make Wealthy Nations
By Devlin Hartline & Kevin Madigan
How did the world’s wealthiest nations grow rich? The answer, according to Professor Stephen Haber of Stanford University, is that “they had well-developed systems of private property.” In Patents and the Wealth of Nations, recently published in the CPIP Conference issue of the George Mason Law Review, Haber explains the connection: Property rights beget trade, trade begets specialization, specialization begets productivity, and productivity begets wealth. Read more
Weighing the Patent System
Here’s a brief excerpt of an op-ed by Adam Mossoff that was published in The Washington Times:
As the push for legislation making broad and wide-ranging revisions to the patent system has stalled, its advocates have shifted tactics. They have carved out the provision in H.R. Read more
Changes to Patent Venue Rules Risk Collateral Damage to Innovators
Advocates for changing the patent venue rules, which dictate where patent owners can sue alleged infringers, have been arguing that their remedy will cure the supposed disease of abusive “trolls” filing suit after suit in the Eastern District of Texas. This is certainly true, but it’s only true in the sense that cyanide cures the common cold. Read more