2017 Patent Year In Review
Before getting into all the exciting copyright and patent issues we’ll see this year, let’s do a brief review of five significant things that happened in the patent or patent-related world in 2017 (next week: copyright). Confusion over USPTO leadership. In many ways, the year started out with mass confusion, including at the United States Patent…
Amazon’s smart mirror patent teases the future of fashion
Amazon’s latest patent hints at what it might be like to get dressed in the future. On Tuesday, the tech giant was granted a patent for a blended reality mirror, which could superimpose virtual clothing onto your reflection. It would also be capable of placing you in a virtual scene, like a beach or a…
Samsung vs. Apple Patent Infringement
The Supreme Court has weighed in on a patent battle between Samsung and Apple, siding with Samsung by declaring that the patent infringement for an element of a design should be treated differently from the infringement of an entire design. The dispute between the two tech giants isn’t about whether Samsung violated Apple’s patents, but rather about…
Alice v. CLS Bank and 35 USC 101
Alice v. CLS Bank Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. __, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014), was a 2014 decision of the United States Supreme Court about patentable subject matter (patent eligibility). The issue in the case was whether certain claims about a computer-implemented, electronic escrow service for facilitating financial transactions covered abstract ideas ineligible for patent protection. The patents were held…