Brendan Clark

Core Wireless: Moving Beyond Eligibility as the Exception to the Exception?

By Brendan Clark on February 8, 2018 Posted in Federal Circuit, Patent

January was an exciting month for patent professionals still attempting to make sense of the fallout from the Supreme Court’s 2014 Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International decision. Hot on the heels of its Jan. 10 decision in Finjan, Inc. v. Blue Coat Systems, Inc., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided Core … Continue Reading

When Obvious Isn’t Obvious: Personal Web Technologies

By Brendan Clark on February 15, 2017 Posted in Patent

On Valentine’s Day 2017, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s conclusions of obviousness in Personal Web Technologies, LLC due to insufficient analysis in the board’s decision. Judge Taranto, joined by Judge Chen and Judge Stoll, explicitly asserted the court’s role in enforcing the principles of administrative … Continue Reading

Important Federal Circuit Decision Provides More Clues on Software Eligibility

By Brendan Clark on September 15, 2016 Posted in Patent

On Sept. 13, 2016, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit gave applicants and patentees another tool with which to argue for the patent eligibility of their software innovations, finding that McRO’s lip-synchronizing patents were eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Judge Reyna, joined by Judges Taranto and Stoll, determined that representative claim 1 … Continue Reading

Upcoming Federal Circuit Decision Presents Opportunity for Clarification of Patentable Subject Matter

By Brendan Clark on February 25, 2016 Posted in Federal Circuit, Patent

Since Alice,[1] consistently defining the bounds of statutory subject matter in computer arts confounds even the most experienced attorneys. E-commerce software combining visual elements of multiple parties’ websites is patent eligible,[2] but a motion-tracking system claiming inertial sensors is not.[3] While the results have cut sharply against patent holders asserting or prosecuting software properties, legal … Continue Reading