While not formally defined, “methods of doing business” were excluded from patentability by judicial rule prior to the 1998 State Street decision. Business method patents have been subject to extensive criticism and have been subject to special scrutiny by the USPTO (through a so-called “second pair of eyes” review) and now under a transitional review procedure established by the AIA. Business methods remain unpatentable in most of the world on the grounds that they are not technology.
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Tuesday Markup of Litigation Funding Legislation
Although John Squires is busy destroying the PTAB—as of last week, he has now gone 0 for 34 on allowing institution of IPR petitions he reviews—the story in Congress is more positive. Tomorrow, t...
Step 1: Destroy IPR. Step 2: ??? Step 3: Profit.
Last week, the USPTO issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) containing major changes to the institution process for inter partes review. Combined with other changes made by the USPTO, inc...
Capable of Repetition, But Avoiding Review—USPTO New Regulation Not Reviewed By OIRA
The USPTO has put out a new NPRM, attempting to lock in place rules that were created without going through rulemaking in the prior Trump administration. While I have a lot to say about the substance...