Patent Claim Drafting: Improvements and Jepson Claims
But how do you go about patenting an improvement? The first thing you must do is figure out what the advantages are over the prior art. You need to take a critical look at your own invention and...
View ArticleCAFC Kills Means-Plus-Function in Software Patent
All of this might be confusing to a Judge who is unfamiliar with computers, but that is not the test, is it? The question is supposed to be whether it would be confusing to a person of relevant skill...
View ArticleA Primer on Indefiniteness and Means-Plus-Function
The basic law relative to § 112, ¶6 explains that a decision on whether a claim is indefinite under § 112, ¶ 6 requires a determination of whether those skilled in the art would understand what is...
View ArticlePatent Drafting: Describing What is Unique Without Puffing
Although a patent application is not a sales pitch per se, most inventors will find it quite helpful to list as many descriptive objectives of the invention as is possible. As a general rule you...
View ArticleLivid About Non-precedential Avid Decision from Federal Circuit
When an element is claimed using language falling under the scope of §112, ¶6, the specification must be consulted to determine the structure, material, or acts corresponding to the function recited in...
View ArticleWorking with Patent Drawings to Create a Complete Disclosure
What you are looking at here is something that is similar to a Big Mac because it has two beef patties, which are identified by reference numeral 10. It isn't quite a Big Mac through because there is...
View ArticleDoes the term “Invention” in the Specification Limit the Claims?
There are some that will tell you that the use of the term "invention" or "present invention" in the specification will limit the claims. This misguided belief suggests that merely using the word...
View ArticleA Guide to Patenting Software: Getting Started
Any good patent application that covers a software related invention will need to put forth three specific pieces of information. First, you need to describe the overall computer architecture of the...
View ArticleJ&J Seeks Ridiculously Broad Patent on Method of Treating Pain
Essentially you take a topical analgesic, cool it, remove it from the cooling environment and then apply. If this claim gets patented it will be extraordinarily embarrassing for the USPTO. But what...
View ArticlePatent Claim Drafting 101: The Basics
When writing a claim it is important to describe how the various components are structured and how the various components interact and connect. First, include a claim that defines your invention in...
View ArticleThe Benefits of a Provisional Patent Application
Like any other patent application, a provisional patent application is effective to stop the clock relative to so-called statutory bars and immediately upon filing a provisional patent application you...
View ArticleSurprisingly Short Patent Claims in Published Applications
But there are no doubt some bizarre patent applications that have published over the years, such as a method of walking through walls like a ghost. See Knowing When You Have Too Much Time on Your...
View ArticleDrafting Patent Applications: Writing Method Claims
Method or process claims are relatively easy to write once you know what the core invention is and what is necessary to be included in the claim in order to overcome the prior art. Like all claims,...
View ArticleConjunctions and/or Patent Claims
The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas construed the word “or” in clause (e) of Claim 1 to mean “a choice between either one of two alternatives, but not both.” This claim construction was...
View ArticleGood, Bad & Ugly: Truth About Provisional Patent Applications
Whether that provisional patent application can ever be useful moving forward is unknown and unknowable at the time it is filed, which allows for those who knowingly or unknowingly peddle bad services...
View ArticleHow to Draft Software Patent Claims After CLS Bank
We’ve got a couple cases following CLS Bank that give us clues as to what a computer-related claim should look like post-CLS Bank. In the Ultramercial v. Hulu case, Rader and Lourie are surprisingly on...
View ArticlePatent Reform: Will Fee-Shifting Solve the Patent Troll Problem?
Will these regulations make it less likely that a patent troll might take on a frivolous lawsuit? Perhaps, but it may also result in a higher win percentage for plaintiffs who only take sure bets to...
View ArticleSoftware Patent Basics: What Level of Description is Required?
The key to any software patent application is to describe the invention with enough technical detail, system specifics and process information so that a computer programmer could take the disclosure...
View Article