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 […]
Widerman Malek Law Blog
Protecting Software Using Patent And Trade Secret Law
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.
Overcoming Patent Application Rejections by the USPTO
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 […]
Protecting Your Software’s Application Programming Interface (API)
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 […]
Design Patents to Protect Your 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 […]
Negotiating the Distribution of Patented Products: Points to Consider
Every week, it seems, another news story appears about an innovative startup preparing to launch its new take on a product to a waiting market. While consumers and companies alike often eagerly anticipate these launches, they also pose potential risks to the company and its ownership of its intellectual property. Today’s marketplace is more competitive […]
Girl Scouts Launch Intellectual Property Patch
The Girl Scouts, in conjunction with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, have announced an Intellectual Property (“IP”) patch. Information about the patch can be found here. The Girl Scouts already offer an Innovation Badge, and the IP patch is meant to compliment the Innovation Badge. According to the USPTO website the “IP patch […]
Qualcomm Sues Meizu over Patent Infringement
Qualcomm has a history of fighting with a Chinese company known as Meizu. This manufacturer of portable electronics is known for producing items without taking the time to acquire all the proper patent rights for the products that it creates. That’s why Qualcomm has taken legal action against the company many times, and it’s why […]
The Donald Trump Skittles Controversy
Donald Trump is getting a whole lot of attention these days with the election and now being the President-elect. He’s been involved in a whole lot of controversy and people are quoting him on a daily basis, but few are talking about his copyright infringement case. Donald Trump managed to achieve copyright infringement in a […]
Light Saber Choreography and Fight Companies Infringe on LucasFim
Star Wars has been popular for over three decades now, and with the latest movies coming out in the past few years, it’s no wonder that people are trying to cash in on them as much as possible. There’s still a strong following for the Star Wars movies, and there are a bunch of companies […]
