Category: Court Decision
Non-Compete Enforcement in Utah: What You Need to Know
Wednesday | June 30, 2021By Shane Skwareknon-competeThe specifics of non-compete enforcement law in Utah has changed three times in the past five years. If you are having trouble keeping up with the law, this article may help you navigate those changes and what they might mean…
Read MoreYu and the Case of Shifting Tests for Patents
Saturday | June 19, 2021By Shane Skwarek101 patentapple patentpatent eligibilityphotography patentsoftware patentThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the invalidation of Yu et al.'s patent on a motion to dismiss in Yanbin Yu v. Apple Inc., No. 2020-1760, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 17434 (Fed. Cir. June 11, 2021).…
Read MoreCopy and Paste – Supreme Court Holds Copying Software Function Calls Was Fair Use
Saturday | April 10, 2021By Shane Skwarekcopyrightfair usesoftwareThe U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in litigation involving Google's Android operating system for mobile devices on April 5, 2021. When developing Android, Google had copied the text and format of function calls from Oracle's Java SE Application Programming…
Read MoreAutomating Animation: Patentable; Automating Captions: Hold On
Monday | March 15, 2021By Shane Skwarek§ 101software patentsubject-matter eligibilityThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has issued a decision affirming that patent claims to automating the process of making closed captions for audio-visual media are ineligible for patent protection. In Enco Sys. v. Davincia, the Court affirmed…
Read MoreFederal Circuit’s Dropbox Decision: Missing the Forest for the Trees?
Saturday | June 20, 2020By Shane Skwarekabstract ideacourt rulingpatent claimpatent eligibilitysoftware patentOn June 19, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the invalidation of three Dropbox patents. The Northern District of California had granted a motion to dismiss on grounds that the claims in those patents were…
Read MoreSequenom’s More Specific Claims Survive
Monday | March 23, 2020By Shane Skwarek§ 101court rulingdiagnostic methodlitigationpatent draftingpatent eligibilitySequenomtips for inventorsThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit took another look at Sequenom's techniques for detecting fetal blood cells in a maternal blood sample. In Illumina Inc. & Sequenom, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc., No. 2019-1419, 2020 U.S. App.…
Read MoreCustomedia Techs. Patent for Storing Ads Invalidated
Saturday | March 14, 2020By Shane Skwarek35 U.S.C. § 101court rulingpatent applicationpatent eligibilityPatent Protectionpatentability searchsoftware patentsubject-matter eligibilityPatent claims to storing ad data based on user preferences locally at a user's video player were confirmed invalid in Customedia Techs., LLC v. Dish Network Corp., No. 2018-2239, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 7005 (Fed. Cir. March 6, 2020). To…
Read MoreSoftware Patent Claims Saved by Problem-Solution Approach
Monday | November 18, 2019By Shane Skwarek§ 101patent claimpatent eligibilitysoftware patentsubject-matter eligibilityThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a lower court's decision that software patent claims involving techniques for varying check data to verify data transmissions were ineligible for patent protection in KPN v. Gemalto, No. 2018-1863, 2019…
Read MoreFederal Circuit Holds Making Liners for Driveshafts Doesn’t Practically Apply Laws of Nature
Monday | October 7, 2019By Shane Skwarekcourt rulingfederal circuitpatent eligibilityThe trend in the U.S. for courts to invalidate growing numbers of patents, particularly software, business method, and medical diagnostic patents, as being directed to unpatentable abstract ideas, laws of nature, and natural phenomena has found its way to mechanical…
Read MoreEarly Dismissal on § 101 Grounds Is Improper When Claims Need Construction
Tuesday | August 20, 2019By Shane Skwarekcourt rulingpatent infringementThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in MyMail v. ooVoo, No. 2018-1758, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 24430 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 15, 2019), that a court must adopt a non-moving party's claim constructions or otherwise resolve claim construction…
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