Top 5 Intellectual Property News Stories of 2014 and Future Impact

January 20th, 2015
Patents/IP

By Bryan D. Stewart, Daniel E. Sineway, John R. Harris, and Lee Strasburger.

Last year was a big year for the intellectual property community. Landmark cases in patent law and other developments will shape the intellectual property portfolios of companies doing business in the United States for years to come. For more on the biggest intellectual property developments of 2014 and their impact on your business in 2015, read below.

1. Alice v. CLS Bank

Heralded by some as the savior of software patents and by others as a limitation on the protections available for software inventions, the Supreme Court’s

Read More







Alice Corp. V. CLS Bank – Supreme Court Continues Trend Of Finding Abstract Ideas Ineligible For Patent Protection

June 23rd, 2014
Patents/IP

However, Many Computer Implemented Inventions Remain Patentable Subject Matter

 

by:  John R. Harris,  Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP

Patent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On June 19, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its eagerly anticipated decision in Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 573 U.S. ___ (2014).  The court held that the claims of several patents held by Alice Corp. were drawn to patent-ineligible abstract ideas, and were thus unpatentable subject matter under the U.S. patent laws, 35 U.S.C. § 101.  The patent-ineligible claims were directed to a scheme for

Read More


Tesla Motors Open-Sources Patents – What It Could Mean for Entrepreneurial Ventures

June 16th, 2014
Patents/IP

ELON MUSK & TESLA SAY:  “ALL OUR PATENT ARE BELONG TO YOU.”

Tesla Motors Open-Sources Patents – What It Could Mean for Entrepreneurial Ventures

By: John R. Harris

In a blog post on June 12, 2014, Elon Musk said that he removed the wall of Tesla patents from the lobby of their headquarters in Palo Alto, in the “spirit of the open source movement.”  Mr. Musk added that, “We believe that applying the open source philosophy to our patents will strengthen rather than diminish Tesla’s position in this regard.”  What does this

Read More