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Patent Prosecution Luncheon

Patent Prosecution Luncheon. March 2014. White House Patent Reform: Executive Actions. Draft rule to ensure patent owners accurately record and regularly update ownership information – limit shell company use Increase scrutiny on function claims – glossary pilot program

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Patent Prosecution Luncheon

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  1. Patent Prosecution Luncheon March 2014

  2. White House Patent Reform: Executive Actions • Draft rule to ensure patent owners accurately record and regularly update ownership information – limit shell company use • Increase scrutiny on function claims – glossary pilot program • Online toolkit to help downstream users with common litigation questions • Expand outreach (Edison Scholars)

  3. White House Patent Reform: Executive Actions • Crowdsourcing prior art – including increased use of 3rd party submission program • Examiner training – Call for “innovators” to volunteer • Expanding Pro Bono program for inventors

  4. Business and Ownership issues • Sale of business – Owner may lose ability to claim privilege regarding pre-sale communications • Great Hill Equity Partners v. Sig Growth Equity Fund, LLP (C.A. No. 7906 (Nov. 15, 2013) • Divorce – Spouse might retain rights in invention, despite assignment by other spouse • Be careful in “community property” states • Hricik article, Enovsys LLC v. Nextel Com., Inc., 614 F.3d 1333 (Fed. Cir. 2010).

  5. De Novo Review of Claim Construction Upheld • Lighting Ballast Control LLC v. Philips Electronics N.A. Corp. (Fed. Cir. 2014) (En banc) • No reason to change, majority (Newman) opinion based on stare decisis: • Newman: Promotes national uniformity, finality • Concurrance by Lourie, additional reasoning: • Claim construction does not involve assessing historical facts • Federal Circuit will not ignore district court

  6. De Novo Review of Claim Construction Upheld • O’Malley Dissent • Agrees Judge should decide claim construction, but says it involves questions of fact, so deference should be shown

  7. New Examination Guidelines Re Section 101 • Based on Myriad Decision • Supersedes previous 2013 guidance re natural products • Does NOT impact previous guidance regarding abstract ideas

  8. Overall Process for Subject Matter Eligibility Under 35 U.S.C. 101

  9. Factors that weigh toward eligibility (significantly different): • a) Claim is a product claim reciting something that initially appears to be a natural product, but after analysis is determined to be non-naturally occurring and markedly different in structure from naturally occurring products. • b) Claim recites elements/steps in addition to the judicial exception(s) that impose meaningful limits on claim scope, i.e., the elements/steps narrow the scope of the claim so that others are not substantially foreclosed from using the judicial exception(s). • c) Claim recites elements/steps in addition to the judicial exception(s) that relate to the judicial exception in a significant way, i.e., the elements/steps are more than nominally, insignificantly, or tangentially related to the judicial exception(s). • d) Claim recites elements/steps in addition to the judicial exception(s) that do more than describe the judicial exception(s) with general instructions to apply or use the judicial exception(s). • e) Claim recites elements/steps in addition to the judicial exception(s) that include a particular machine or transformation of a particular article, where the particular machine/transformation implements one or more judicial exception(s) or integrates the judicial exception(s) into a particular practical application. (See MPEP 2106(II)(B)(1) for an explanation of the machine or transformation factors). • f) Claim recites one or more elements/steps in addition to the judicial exception(s) that add a feature that is more than well-understood, purely conventional or routine in the relevant field.

  10. Factors that weigh against eligibility (not significantly different): • g) Claim is a product claim reciting something that appears to be a natural product that is not markedly different in structure from naturally occurring products. • h) Claim recites elements/steps in addition to the judicial exception(s) at a high level of generality such that substantially all practical applications of the judicial exception(s) are covered. • i) Claim recites elements/steps in addition to the judicial exception(s) that must be used/taken by others to apply the judicial exception(s). • j) Claim recites elements/steps in addition to the judicial exception(s) that are well-understood, purely conventional or routine in the relevant field. • k) Claim recites elements/steps in addition to the judicial exception(s) that are insignificant extra-solution activity, e.g., are merely appended to the judicial exception(s). • l) Claim recites elements/steps in addition to the judicial exception(s) that amount to nothing more than a mere field of use.

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