Up until recently, software patents accounted for about half of all patents issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The U.S. Supreme Court has since made it more difficult to receive a software patent. However, the tide is shifting back in favor of inventors and patent owners. In fact, since the initial […]
Protecting Software Using Patent And Trade Secret Law Traditional legal strategies have pitted trade secret law and patent law against one another. This is because patents are made public while trade secrets must be kept confidential. However, there is a way to utilize the best of what both have to offer.
35 USC §101 Rejections Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Alice v. CLS Bank in 2014 there has been a drastic increase in 35 USC §101 rejections. The decision emphasized that inventions “directed to an abstract idea” are not patentable. The U.S. Patent Office has used this decision to reject a majority of software utility […]
In this article, we are continuing the discussion of a legal strategy to protect software that involves segmenting software into three tiers and protecting each tier separately. This strategy has been developed in response to a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court case, Alice v. CLS Bank, that effectively slammed the door on receiving and enforcing software […]
In a previous article, we discussed a legal strategy for protecting software that involved segmenting software into three tiers and protecting each tier separately. Those tiers are as follows: Level One: User Interface Level Two: API Level Three: Algorithms and Data Structures This article focuses on the first tier, which involves how the user interacts […]
Although the protection strategy has changed, the answer is yes. Until recently, software patents accounted for about half of all utility patents issued by the USPTO. Application of a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court case, Alice v. CLS Bank, effectively slammed the door on this practice. Likewise, software patents issued prior to this decision have been […]
Over the years, several of our clients have received trademark solicitations from what appeared to be legitimate entities, but which are in fact complete scams. I recently posted an article on LinkedIn regarding this issue. A typical example of one type of scam letter can be found in our previous article on this topic. A […]
When a company is ready to bring its debut product to market, excitement may run high. The importance of protecting the company’s intellectual property rights in the new product is paramount. While the company may enter contract negotiations with its distributor in good faith and in anticipation of creating a mutually beneficial agreement, a lack […]
