Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on TechCrunch Patent assertion entities (PAEs or trolls) regularly engage in the practice of sending patent demand letters to unsuspecting startups and small businesses in preparation for going after much larger entities. A patent demand letter is typically sent by a patent holder to a company it believes is infringing
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First-To-File Patent Law Is Imminent, But What Will It Mean?
Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on TechCrunch. One of the main changes resulting from the passage of the America Invents Act (AIA) is the transition of U.S. patent law from a “first-to-invent” system to a “first-to-file” system on March 16. With the transition a mere four weeks away, it is important to understand what this change
EFF launches new 3D Printing Initiative
A post by Julie Samuels of the Electronic Frontier Foundation details the EFF’s new initiative to identify patent applications on 3D Printing technology and submit prior art applications using the new Third Party Submission provisions created under the America Invents Act. The idea behind the project is to crowd source prior art searching for the
USPTO provisionally invalidates Apple’s bounceback patent
In the on going battle between Apple and Samsung, FOSS patents reports that the USPTO has issued a non-final office action in the reexamination of Apple’s bounce-back patent No. U.S. Patent No, 7,469,381. This patent was one of the patents Samsung was found to be infringing in Apple’s billion dollar verdict against Samsung. While this is clearly
Google Wallet sued for Patent Infringement in Delaware
This afternoon, Google was sued over its Google Wallet smartphone application allegedly infringing U.S. Patent No. 7,298,271 (the ’271 patent) in the Federal District Court of Delaware. According to Google, “Google Wallet is a virtual wallet that securely stores your credit and debit cards, offers, and rewards cards. You can tap your phone to pay
Software patents called out in New York Times
This weekend, the New York Times ran an article on patents in the new economy. There are some interesting bits in there, but it probably isn’t anything new to those already following the patent space. One quote in the article really got me thinking though: In the smartphone industry alone, according to a Stanford University
Patent valuation an art or a science?
I wrote previously at TechCrunch about patent valuation and the prices paid for large patent purchases such as the Nortel and Kodak acquisitions. Today’s New York Times Deal Book article, With Smartphone Deals, Patents Become a New Asset Class, expands on this topic. many factors… go into pricing patents. Timing, competitive forces, regulation and court rulings
The death of the “Non Practicing Entity”?
Editor’s Note: This post original appeared on TechCrunch. While perusing the latest patent lawsuit filings on PriorSmart this week, I was drawn to a series of cases filed by a small company called PersonalWeb against RackSpace (possibly for hosting GitHub), Nexsan, Facebook, Apple, Yahoo, Microsoft, and
Is Crowd Sourced Prior Art the future of patent examination?
Some of the most important provisions of the America Invents Act came into effect this week. Among these provisions is the opportunity for third parties to anonymously submit prior art to the USPTO to be considered by a patent examiner prior to a notice of allowance being issued in a patent application. This allows third
Thinking about design patents
Interesting piece at Tech.Pinions today looking at the purpose of design patents and the Apple V Samsung decision. While the article is a bit thin on patent law, it is an interesting take on the strategy behind Apple enforcing the design patents: The goal again of these “rounded corners” is to maintain a unique, consistent,