New England IP Blog

Covering intellectual property developments in New England, and other developments that impact New England companies.

Category Archives: Patent Eligibility

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USPTO Announces 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance

By S. James Boumil, III, Joseph Capraro and Patrick Niedermeier on Posted in Patent Eligibility, Patent Prosecution, Software, Subject Matter Eligibility, USPTO
On January 4, 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) released a significant, much-awaited revision to its patentable subject matter eligibility guidance.1  The “2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance” (the “Guidance”) changes the USPTO’s administrative procedures for determining whether a patent claim is directed to a judicial exception (e.g., a law of … Continue Reading

Patenting the Blockchain

By Safraz Ishmael on Posted in Financial Services, Patent Eligibility, Software
Last year’s spike in the valuation of bitcoin has much of the technology world focused on blockchain, the distributed database ledger technology behind bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies.  Lost behind the scenes, however, is a rush by some in the industry to patent inventions relating to the blockchain technology itself.  These moves come with controversy … Continue Reading

Barbic to Host Webinar on Recent Patent Eligibility Decisions

By New England IP Blog on Posted in Biotechnology, Chemical, Health Care, Patent Eligibility, Patent Office, Pharmaceuticals
Recent decisions in patent cases from the Supreme Court, Federal Circuit and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) continue to shape the patent litigation landscape. Additionally, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) occasionally updates its patent eligibility guidance to illustrate how patent examiners should evaluate claims for patent subject matter eligibility under … Continue Reading

Judge Talwani Dismisses Diagnostic Patent Infringement Case under Section 101

By Julio Mendez on Posted in Biotechnology, Massachusetts, Patent Eligibility, Subject Matter Eligibility
In a recent patent infringement case relating to a method for diagnosing a neuro-muscular disorder, Judge Indira Talwani in the District of Massachusetts found the asserted patent claims to be patent ineligible because the claims were directed to a naturally occurring interaction. The case involved Athena Diagnostics and its licensees who sought to enforce U.S. … Continue Reading

In Autoimmune Disorder Diagnosis Patent Case, Section 101 Motion to Dismiss Denied

By Alexander Roan on Posted in Biotechnology, Massachusetts, Patent Eligibility, Validity
In a recent decision from the District of Massachusetts, Judge Indira Talwani denied a motion to dismiss a patent suit under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim due to patent ineligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 . In their motion, defendants Mayo Collaborative Services LLC and Mayo Clinic (collectively “Defendants”) argued that the … Continue Reading

Blueprint Generation Software Not Eligible for Patenting

By Patrick Niedermeier on Posted in New Hampshire, Patent Eligibility, Software, Validity
Speeding up a blueprint generation process that can be done by hand does not make computer software eligible for patenting. So reasoned the New Hampshire district court in another of a bevy of post-Alice district court decisions that have found certain software patents invalid under § 101 of the Patent Act. The case involved EastCoast’s … Continue Reading
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