A post by Julie Samuels of the Electronic Frontier Foundation details the EFF’s new initiative to identify patent applications on 3D Printing technology and submit prior art applications using the new Third Party Submission provisions created under the America Invents Act. The idea behind the project is to crowd source prior art searching for the [&hellip
Patent Archive
USPTO provisionally invalidates Apple’s bounceback patent
In the on going battle between Apple and Samsung, FOSS patents reports that the USPTO has issued a non-final office action in the reexamination of Apple’s bounce-back patent No. U.S. Patent No, 7,469,381. This patent was one of the patents Samsung was found to be infringing in Apple’s billion dollar verdict against Samsung. While this is clearly [&hellip
Google Wallet sued for Patent Infringement in Delaware
This afternoon, Google was sued over its Google Wallet smartphone application allegedly infringing U.S. Patent No. 7,298,271 (the ‘271 patent) in the Federal District Court of Delaware. According to Google, “Google Wallet is a virtual wallet that securely stores your credit and debit cards, offers, and rewards cards. You can tap your phone to pay [&hellip
Software patents called out in New York Times
This weekend, the New York Times ran an article on patents in the new economy. There are some interesting bits in there, but it probably isn’t anything new to those already following the patent space. One quote in the article really got me thinking though: In the smartphone industry alone, according to a Stanford University [&hellip
Patent valuation an art or a science?
I wrote previously at TechCrunch about patent valuation and the prices paid for large patent purchases such as the Nortel and Kodak acquisitions. Today’s New York Times Deal Book article, With Smartphone Deals, Patents Become a New Asset Class, expands on this topic. many factors… go into pricing patents. Timing, competitive forces, regulation and court rulings [&hellip
The death of the “Non Practicing Entity”?
Editor’s Note: This post original appeared on TechCrunch. While perusing the latest patent lawsuit filings on PriorSmart this week, I was drawn to a series of cases filed by a small company called PersonalWeb against RackSpace (possibly for hosting GitHub), Nexsan, Facebook, Apple, Yahoo, Microsoft, and
Patentability of software patent claims
Those looking to wittle away at the patentability of software patents, a recent decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), Bancorp Services v. Sun Life states that, To salvage an otherwise patent-ineligible process, a computer must be integral to the claimed invention, facilitating the process in a way that a person making [&hellip
Samsung V. Apple And The Obviousness Standard
Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared in TechCrunch. In the wake of Apple’s billion-plus dollar win in their patent suit against Samsung last week, much of the focus appears to be on the flaws in the patent system. Many argue that the suit involved patents that are “obvious,” and that Apple is a bully in enforcing them. [&hellip
The Twitter IPA: What does defensive really mean?
Twitter is an innovative company, and today’s introduction of the Innovator’s Patent Agreement shows that their legal department can be innovative too. The Innovator’s Patent Agreement, a draft of which was released on GitHub, will allow inventors to retain control of their inventions to make sure that they are only used for defensive purposes. This [&hellip
Should you devote resources to monitoring your competitors IP?
A successful business person understands that in order to stay ahead of the competition, he or she must stay informed about the competition. One way to stay informed is to monitor competitors’ publications issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). These publications include published non-provisional patent applications and issued patents. Generally, non-provisional [&hellip