In March 2009, we reported that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had issued a decision in the case of Tafas v. Doll (formerly, Tafas v. Dudas). Subsequent to that decision, the Federal Circuit granted a rehearing en banc, and...

In its decision in In re Bilski, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals held that a claim to a process only sets out patent-eligible subject matter if the claim requires use of a particular machine or involved a transformation of something to a...

The primary focus has been in the “mental steps” area, although early in the year the Federal Circuit refused to reconsider its 2007 decision that a disembodied signal did not qualify for patent protection as a...

U.S. Patent Rules (see 7 CFR 1.137) permit abandoned patent applications to be revived if the applicant asserts that the abandonment was either unintentional or makes a showing that abandonment was...

It was hoped that the Supreme Court might resolve this controversy when it decided the case of Quanta Computer Inc. v. L.G. Electronics. Unfortunately although its decision of June 8, 2008 made it clear that the Court of Appeals for the Federal...

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