Intellectual Property Law
New Matter WINTER 2016, Volume 41, Number 4
Content
- 2017 New Matter Author Submission Guidelines
- A New Federal Action Transforms Trade Secrets Litigation
- Case Comments
- Contents
- Copyright Commentary
- Intellectual Property Section Executive Committee 2016-2017
- Intellectual Property Section Interest Group Representatives 2016-2017
- International Ip Developments
- Ip and Art: An International Perspective
- Letter from the Chair
- Letter from the Editor-in-Chief
- MCLE Self-Study Article
- Online Cle For Participatory Credit
- The Licensing Corner
- The Mogol v. Battisti Copyright Case
- The State Bar of California Intellectual Property Alumni
- Ttab Decisions and Developments
- Federal Circuit Report
Federal Circuit Report
REX HWANG Glaser Weil Fink Howard Avchen & Shapiro LLP
NICK HUSKINS Glaser Weil Fink Howard Avchen & Shapiro LLP
The Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Alice Corp v. CLS Bank,1 issued June 2014, fundamentally altered the practice of patent law. And as most practitioners are aware, software patents have been attacked and invalidated at unprecedented rates under 35 U.S.C. § 101 ever since. Indeed, many practitioners have questioned whether all software patents are vulnerable to invalidation, given the lack of guidance afforded judges tasked with deciding Section 101 challenges.
However, a trio of recent Federal Circuit decisions – Enfish v. Microsoft,2 Bascom v. ATT,3 and McRO v. Bandai4 – may signal a turning point. The Federal Circuit, through these decisions, appears to have incrementally broadened the scope of eligibility for software patents, while also providing courts with much-needed guidance in applying Alice‘s two-step eligibility test.