Business Methods and Bilski

The Supreme Court will be making a very interesting decision about the patentability of business methods, including such things as software and financial strategies. The review of the Bilski case will be one of the most watched decisions from the Supreme Court in quite a while, at least for patent attorneys. I hesitate to offer a guess as to which way the Court will go on this because I think this will end up being a relatively close vote, but I think the Court is going to overturn the Federal Circuit's decision. At the very least, it will be interesting to watch.

Patent Filings

It is not a surprise that patent filings are down while the economy is slowing. That is to be expected to a certain degree and coincides with previous experience. However, times of economic difficulty also present a great opportunity to companies that can adapt, and that adaptation is what fuels development of intellectual property. This is actually a great time to be filing a patent application, or trying to protect any other intellectual property, because the company that innovates now will get through the difficult times better, and be better positioned when the economy turns upward.

Marvel Lawsuit

This lawsuit brought by the stockholders against Stan Lee and Marvel Entertainment should be interesting. It seems Marvel comics characters are doing well after a resurgence in the popularity of comic books and movies based on comic book characters. This is a great lesson about the value of intellectual property, and not just patents, but trademarks and copyrights.

Be Ready to Disclose

This New York Times piece about Rambus, Inc. not being able to enforce certain patents because they shredded documents related to the patents should serve as a warning to other companies that have valuable technology protected by patents. Do not destroy the documents associated with the conception of the invention or the prosecution of the patent. The court will not give you the benefit of the doubt, in fact, just the opposite. This goes along with the idea that one of the reasons the Government grants patents is that they expect the inventor to disclose to the public all the relevant, pertinent information about the invention. The lesson is: do not try to retain or hide (or destroy) any information concerning your patented invention or the patent prosecution process.