Karl Bayer's Disputing Blog » Federal Circuit

Bilski v. Kappos: U.S. Supreme Court Rules that Business Methods Survive

By Victoria VanBuren - June 28, 2010

The US. Supreme Court decided today the high-stakes software patent case Bilski v. Kappos, No. 08-964, June 28, 2010, affirming the Federal Circuit’s judgment. (find our previous post here) In Bilski, the Federal Circuit had rejected patent claims involving a method of hedging risks in commodities trading. The questions decided by the Court were: (1) whether the Federal Circuit erred by creating the so-called “machine or transformation” tes

ABA Section of Intellectual Property | Complex Patent Suits: The Use of Special Masters for Claim Construction

By Victoria VanBuren - February 18, 2010

The following is an excerpt from “Complex Patent Suits: The Use of Special Masters for Claim Construction” by Neil A. Smith published at Landslide by the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law. When a complex patent infringement case arises, it can be in the client’s or the court’s best interest to bring in an expert on patent law and technology—as a special master—to assist the judge. Special masters can provide value to all partie

The Future of Software Patents: U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Bilski v. Kappos

By Victoria VanBuren - November 9, 2009

As previously discussed, today the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments for Bilski v. Kappos, a high-stakes software patent case (the transcript is here). In Bilski, the Federal Circuit rejected patent claims involving a method of hedging risks in commodities trading. The U.S. Supreme Court is now asked to decide whether the Patent Act contemplates the patentability of business methods –which include software patents. Links to the case docume

Is Arbitration Patentable?

By Victoria VanBuren - February 3, 2009

It depends… After yesterday’s post, full of legalese, I thought it might be fun to write something a little lighter today. On January 13, 2009, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided Stephen W. Comiskey’s appeal relating to his patent application with the USPTO. Comiskey claimed a method and system for arbitration involving documents like wills or contracts. The court rejected the claims describing the way of conducting arbitr