Bottom line: Although the following patent case relating to eligibility of patent protection is set within the medical diagnostic realm, it may potentially be applicable to other technological areas. Diagnostic tests for detecting a biomarker and merely amplifying that biomarker using well-known techniques are ineligible for patent protection if the biomarker is a naturally … [Read more...]
Patent eligible subject matter
Patent eligible subject matter is everything made under the sun except for abstract ideas, laws of nature and natural phenomena.
Browse related articles below.
Patent eligible software includes how-to of desired result
Bottom line: DDR Holdings, LLC v. Hotels.com, L.P. (Fed. Cir. 2014) instructs us that software claims that lean towards being labeled an abstract concept may transition from being an unpatentable to patentable provided that the claims recite the “desired result” (i.e. benefit) and the “how” of achieving the desired result. One claiming approach may be to include the desired … [Read more...]
Continued vague guidance on patentability of software
Bottom line: In Ultramercial v. Hulu (Fed. Cir. 2014), the Federal Circuit continued to provide vague guidance as to the patentability of software, specifically, whether a claimed invention is an unpatentable abstract idea. The Federal Circuit provided little guidance as to when a novel characteristic of a claimed invention would be sufficient to move the claimed invention … [Read more...]
Abstract idea hard to define for patent eligibility purposes
Under U.S. patent laws, an invention must be directed to a statutory category that is eligible for patent protection. These categories include a process, a machine, a manufacture or a composition of matter. (35 USC § 101). If the invention does not fall within one of these four enumerated categories, that is, if an application claims an abstract idea, a natural phenomenon, or a … [Read more...]
Abstract ideas require something more for patent protection
Under U.S. patent laws, Section 101 states that “Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.” Judicially, the courts have limited the breadth of Section 101 by stating laws of nature, … [Read more...]
Software inventions are patentable depending on how you claim it
The eligibility of patent protection for software patents is a hot topic in patent law. For now, the attack on patents hasn’t spilled over into other technologies (e.g., mechanical arts may be abstract). For patent attorneys, the big question is not whether software inventions are eligible for patent protection. It is settled law that software is eligible for patent … [Read more...]
Software patent invalid without meaningful limitations
For the past few years, hot patent topics have revolved around the issue of patent eligible subject matter, especially for software patent. The Supreme Court has handed down a number of opinions attempting to give broad based guidance to the lower courts and the USPTO. The lower courts and the USPTO have been left to promulgate rules and decide cases based on those broad … [Read more...]
Are software patents still eligible for patent protection?
Ultramercial v Hulu addressed whether software inventions are eligible for grant as a software patent. In Ultramercial, the patent claims were directed to a method of utilizing advertising as an exchange or currency. A consumer would view a copyrighted product for free in exchange for viewing an advertisement. For example, Hulu.com allows a subscriber to watch a TV program … [Read more...]