Consider this situation: you get to work one morning and attempt to open your computer. A pop-up message tells you that your hard drive is encrypted and demands that you make a payment, in Bitcoin, to get access to your files. Your coworkers have the same experience. Your company’s servers are frozen. You and your […]
A patent is property and the claims of a patent determine the value of that property. The words are important, folks. Consider the following (fictitious) claim: A love detector, the love detector comprising: a computer configured to determine whether a user is in love That’s called a “functional” claim – the claim addresses what the […]
In a word, yes. Consider this situation: An entrepreneur comes up with a new invention, let’s say, a self-inflating tire. A big tire company, which has unsuccessfully tried to develop self-inflating tires for years, signs a non-disclosure agreement and comes to inspect the tire. The non-disclosure agreement is a contract by which the big tire […]
You can create a great software or Internet invention that is completely novel, unobvious and has utility, but you still may not qualify for a patent. Why not? Congress enacted 35 USC §101 to identify which inventions are the proper subject for patents. That section states: Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, […]
Stryker Corporation sued Zimmer, Inc. for patent infringement. There was no question whether Zimmer infringed Stryker’s patent – it did. Zimmer believed Stryker’s patent was invalid and believed that it would prevail in the infringement lawsuit. Zimmer had good reason to believe that the Stryker patent was invalid. As a result, Zimmer continued to infringe […]
Anyone who deals with patents should be familiar with the concept of prior art. ‘Prior art’ is critical to patenting and can prevent your invention from qualifying for a patent, even if it’s a great invention. Prior art generally is a prior publication such as a patent, patent publication, treatise, advertisement, article on the web, […]
The ‘Patent Trial and Appeal Board’ (‘PTAB’) has 174 administrative judges, who hear appeals of actions by the USPTO, such as denials of patent applications. In the past, the USPTO has been accused of packing the PTAB panels with handpicked judges to reach a desired result in a particular case. Panels of the PTAB also […]
Here’s a familiar situation: the shuffling figure, arms outstretched moving slowly toward you, emitting indecipherable moans, munching on what could be human brains… And the universal question: Is that a zombie or is it your teenage offspring? The answer will determine whether you dispatch it in the most grisly way imaginable or feed it mac-and-cheese. . […]
Recent massive data breaches and notorious instances of misuse of data lit fires under privacy advocates, particularly in Europe and California. In our April, 2018 newsletter, we told you about the European Union’s sweeping new privacy program known as the ‘General Data Protection Regulation’ (GDPR), effective May 25, 2018. The GDPR changes the landscape for […]
Disappointed that your new Ferrari 488 Pista isn’t loud enough? You’re not alone – we’ve all been there. Fortunately, the boys and girls at Maranello have been busy and they’ve come up with new ways to make that great Ferrari sound. First, consider U.S. Patent Publication 2017/0350287 published December 7, 2017 and owned by Ferrari. The […]