The U.S. Supreme Court held that laches cannot be invoked as a defense against a claim for patent infringement damages brought within the 6-year damages limitation period specified in the Patent Act, 35 U.S.C.§286. The Supreme Court extended its holding in copyright law … [Read more...]
Reduction in Attorney’s Fees and Costs Without Sound Basis Was Error
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that an award of attorney’s fees by the district court was reversible error because the lower court failed to account for the contractually bargained for attorneys fees clause in the copyright and breach of contract action. In Yellow … [Read more...]
Offer for Sale of Product, More than One Year Before Patent Filed, Invalidates Patent
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the “Federal Circuit”) held that under the revised Patent Act (as modified by the AIA), 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1) now “requires a public sale or offer for sale of the claimed invention” and an offer for sale of the claimed invention occurs … [Read more...]
Suggesting a Financial Product or Service Is Not Claiming a Covered Business Method
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a decision by Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("Board" or "PTAB'') and held that solving web site problems related to customers of financial institutions is not covered business method ("CBM'') patent under § 18 of the … [Read more...]
Algorithm Engine for Determining Financial Risk Is Patent Ineligible Subject Matter
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that a patent on a method for providing financial data indicating financial risk about an individual using an “algorithm engine”, which engine itself is not claimed, nor are the claims limited by any rules that are used to … [Read more...]
Computer System Determining Orientation to Reference Defines Patent Eligible Subject Matter
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has held that computer system claims used in an inertial tracking system for tracking the motion of an object relative to a moving reference frame defines patent eligible subject matter under Patent Act, 35 U.S.C. section 101. The … [Read more...]
Estoppel, Invalid Signal Claims and No Apportionment for Patent Infringement Profits
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Mentor Graphics Corp. v. Eve-USA, Inc. was called upon to review litigation wherein Mentor asserted several patents against Synopsys, including U.S. Patent Nos. 6,240,376 ("the '376 patent"), 6,947,882 ("the '882 patent"), 6,009,531 … [Read more...]
Indexed and Tagged Database Claims Are Patent Ineligible Subject Matter
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that patent claims defining an index used to locate desired information in a computer database, wherein the database index organizes information using a series of tags (category and domain tags) and wherein each record in the … [Read more...]
Right of Publicity Preempted by Copyright Law
In Maloney v. T3Media, Inc. d/b/a Paya.com, No. 15-55630 (9th Cir. April 5, 2017) (Available Here), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that plaintiff’s state law claims were preempted by section 301 of the federal Copyright Act because plaintiffs sought to hold … [Read more...]
Fed. Cir. Upholds Commodity Pricing Computer Program Patent as Being Patent Eligible Subject Matter
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a trial court decision finding that the computer software patent was patent eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. sec. 101 and affirmed the District Court’s decision. Trading Technologies Int’l Inc. v. CQG, Inc., Case No. … [Read more...]
