On February 23, 2018, in In re Silver, the Supreme Court of Texas conditionally granted mandamus relief and vacated the trial court’s order compelling production of emails between an inventor and his non-lawyer registered patent agent. In re Silver, Case No. 16-0682, 2018 WL 1022470 (Tex. February 23, 2018). The court held that a client’s communications with a patent agent, made to facilitate the agent’s provision of authorized legal services to the client, are privileged under Texas Rule of Evidence 503 (attorney-client privilege). The ruling marked the first time a state high court weighed in on the issue.
Patents
Federal Circuit “Blue Coat” Decision: Virus-Scanning Software Survives Alice Attack Applying “Enfish”
By Steve Holtshouser & Erin Knese on
Posted in Legislative & Judicial Updates
On January 10, 2018, the Federal Circuit added Finjan, Inc. v. Blue Coat Sys., Inc., No. 2016-2520 (Fed. Cir.), to its Enfish jurisprudence and upheld the subject matter eligibility of a software patent directed to virus-scanning downloadable app code for known and suspected malware. As construed, the invention claims novel behavioral-based analysis of source code to identify; detection of potentially dangerous files results in creation of a new file attached to the app code which is then evaluated by the destination computer to determine whether to allow the app to be downloaded.
Supreme Court Throws Out Laches Defense For Patent Cases
By Husch Blackwell on
Posted in Legislative & Judicial Updates
In a 7-1 decision Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that laches cannot be a defense in many patent infringement cases. The Federal Circuit previously ruled that laches, which bar suits after unreasonable delays, prevented SCA Hygiene Products AB from suing their competitor First Quality Baby Products LLC. Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling in SCA Hygiene Products…
What General Counsel Must Know About 3D Printing
By Kris Kappel on
Posted in Manufacturing, Product Safety
Read all about “What General Counsel Must Know About 3D Printing,” as published in The Advisory Board Company’s General Counsel Agenda, December 2015. Written by Husch Blackwell’s Kris Kappel, click here to see why “many are calling 3D printing the ‘third industrial revolution.'”
Software Patent Debate: Will the U.S. Supreme Court Weigh In?
By Nathan Oleen on
Posted in Legislative & Judicial Updates
The long running and heated debate over the extent to which software should be patentable has recently garnered significant media attention. The debate is due, in part, to the abstract nature of software patents, the large awards handed down in infringement cases and the fact that software patents are regularly asserted by non-practicing entities (NPEs) against Fortune 500 companies and other large corporations.