Delivering value:
- As a registered patent attorney, Stephen (Steve) Hall’s primary focus involves creating patents for clients and drafting contracts around their technology.
- His mission to help clients develop and deliver ...
By: Stephen C. Hall
Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere, and its use will only continue to expand. Machine learning, a type of algorithm used in AI, is involved in image and speech recognition, pattern detection in data sets, and market trend analysis. AI provides other capabilities as well in this wide expanse. With AI being on the minds ...
By: Stephen C. Hall
When Rafael Nadal accepts the championship trophy at the end of a grueling tennis tournament, he holds it high. Shouldn’t we be more like Nadal when it comes to our accomplishments? Thinking like a champion and performing like one will bring attention to your great ideas.
THE CONTEXT
First, it’s important to appreciate the ...
By: Alexa J. Elder & Stephen C. Hall
Last month, the United States Supreme Court (“SCOTUS”) released the final two opinions of the session, bringing a close to what many have described as the most controversial and consequential Supreme Court term in recent history. While the Supreme Court’s monumental decisions on gun control, climate ...
By: Stephen C. Hall
When the innovators of a new medical device made their invention in 1998, they may have hoped to sell the technology to a larger company, but they probably didn’t anticipate that doing so would lead to a Supreme Court case twenty-three years later. Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., 141 S. Ct. 2298, (June 29, 2021). The ...
By: Stephen C. Hall
When the inventors of an endometrial ablation system – a device for treating abnormal uterine bleeding – made their invention in 1998, they likely were optimistic for an exit event, but they probably didn’t anticipate a Supreme Court case twenty-three years later based on their technology. Minerva Surgical, Inc. v ...
Written by: Stephen C. Hall
Under U.S. law, an inventor on a patent or patent application owns the patent rights, unless there is a contract assigning the rights to another owner. Against this framework, a recent case before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals hinged on whether an employment contract, executed at the beginning of a University ...
By: Stephen C. Hall, contributing author Dasha Kolyaskina, Wyatt Summer Associate
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court granted certiorari on a question arising from a copyright dispute between Unicolors and H&M.[1] In its opinion expected next year, the Supreme Court could resolve an intra-circuit split on whether deceptive or fraudulent ...
Patent clients come from many different perspectives. Our firm represents clients who own numerous patents and whose employees possess impressive knowledge about our patent system. We also represent clients with no prior patents and very little practical experience with patenting. This post is geared primarily to the latter group, providing ...
By: Stephen C. Hall
U.S. Patent 6,697,730 titled “Communications and computing based urban transit system,” and owned by RideApp, was already nearing the end of its life. But in a recent case, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals declared it deceased. Three years prior, RideApp had sued in a California District Court, alleging that ...
incremental: increasing in a small series of steps
Our patent laws protect innovations and investments by rewarding the person or company who advances technology in a distinct way. Some patented inventions are groundbreaking, such as one of the first patents for GPS technology (U.S. Pat. 3,789,409) issued in 1974. Conversely, other patents ...
Words matter. A recent case decided by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. v. DropBox, Inc., again highlights how true this statement is in the context of patent claims.[1]
In Synchronoss, the Court of Appeals affirmed the invalidation of every claim in Synchronoss’ patent 7,587,446 titled “Acquisition ...
By Stephen Hall
"Adjudication:" a proceeding which leads to a judicial decision
On November 27, 2017, the Supreme Court heard arguments concerning a challenge to the most frequent form of patent challenges before the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO"), known as inter partes review (“IPR”). The USPTO is a federal agency ...
By Stephen Hall
Once-in-a-generation patent reform was introduced in our country about five years ago. Similar to many major initiatives, it may have reaped a few unintended consequences as well. Andrei Iancu, current nominee for USPTO Director, has written about one of these consequences that affects certain procedures at the Patent ...
By Steve Hall
Last week, in a near-unanimous opinion rendered without dissent, the Supreme Court emphasized quantity over quality, holding that it is not an infringement under the Patent Act to supply a single component of a multi-component product being manufactured abroad. Life Technologies Corp. v. Promega Corp., No. 14-1538, -- S.Ct ...
By Steve Hall
Having been sworn in as the Forty-Fifth president of the United States, Donald Trump will now appoint individuals who will leave their fingerprints on the intellectual property landscape. Although it might not happen overnight, at some point in 2017 the President is expected to appoint a Director of the United States Patent and ...
Rarely has such a short word or phrase influenced patent claims to such a degree as the phrase, “means for.” This phrase sits at the intersection of function (what an invention accomplishes) and structure (the materials for accomplishing it). 35 U.S.C. § 112, para. 6 is the basis for its use in patent claims:
An element in a claim ...
It goes without saying that businesses use software ubiquitously. Perhaps easier to miss at times is how any given company utilizes software – who uses a particular program and how many machines have the program installed - changes on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis. Such fluidity could expose your company to potential ...
How would the dynamic of patent infringement litigation change if Patent Assertion Entities, who file lawsuits serially, faced a higher level of scrutiny over their pre-lawsuit investigation? This post explains how to accomplish this with due regard for attorney-client privilege and attorney work product.
In its study of ...
A recent opinion by a Federal Circuit panel demonstrates that three years can be a long time in the smartphone industry. MobileMedia Ideas, LLC v. Apple, Inc. targeted Apple’s iPhone products and determined, for now at least, the fate of claims in two patents owned by MobileMedia, a non-practicing holding company partially ...
Inter Partes Review (“IPR”) is a trial proceeding established by the America Invents Act that started in September 2012. Conducted before the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (“Board”), IPR allows an interested party to challenge claims in a patent for obviousness or lack of novelty, based on prior art patents or ...
This is the third and final post of a three-part series on written description requirements and the developing case law under the America Invents Act (AIA).
"Genus": a class, kind, or group marked by a common characteristic(s)
"Species": a logical subdivision of a genus marked by a specific attribute
Taxonomy ...
This is part two of a three-part series on written description requirements and the developing case law under the America Invents Act (AIA).
The previous post in this series introduced the potential litigation hurdle – or, opportunity, depending on one’s perspective – involving the requirement that a “parent” ...
This is part one of a three-part series on written description requirements and the developing case law under the America Invents Act (AIA).
It happens regularly in patent litigation: a patentee asserts a patent that arose from a child application, the child application claims priority to an application filed years before, and ...
I recently wrote a column with my Partner, Andrew Campbell, a member of the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Service Team, for News and Tribune's Southern Indiana Business Source. The article, "Protect your business from the heavy toll of abusive patent litigation," describes the growing threat of Patent Assertion Entities ...