Pirates Among Us? How Have Courts Treated Willful Infringers in the Year Following Halo v. Pulse?
As the Supreme Court’s Halo decision[1] recently celebrated its first anniversary, we take a look to see whether the lower courts have effectively rooted out the “wanton and malicious pirates” about whom the unanimous High Court was so gravely concerned. Have we found and singled out our swash-buckling ne’er-do-wells for public shaming, or have […]
Three Keys to Effective Freedom-to-Operate Management
Freedom-to-operate is a murky world where the quality of the investigation greatly depends on the skills and resourcefulness of the lawyer or analyst doing the work. Best practices and standards of care are not very well defined and, even when systems exist, they are rarely adaptable to changing needs. It is our mission at ClearstoneIP […]
ClearstoneIP Announces New FTO Platform
ClearstoneIP is proud to announce the beta release of its next generation freedom-to-operate management platform, Clearstone FTO. With guidance and feedback from IP industry leaders, we’ve infused this new web-based application with the ideal combination of best practices, workflows, and collaboration features to bring much-needed efficiency to a critical process. Some of the core features […]
Accuracy and Speed in Patent Infringement Searching Need Not Be “One or the Other”
“Faster and better results at lower cost!” A claim so common it blends in with the hum of office chatter. We’d like to believe that patent searches could be turned around within a day or two, but it typically takes much longer. We’d like to believe that the work returned to us includes everything we need […]
Enfish v. Microsoft: The Pendulum Might Be Changing Direction For Software Patents, But Challenges Still Exist
The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Enfish v. Microsoft Corp. was significant in that it was the first time that the court reversed a trial court’s finding of invalidity under § 101 based on the Supreme Court’s Alice decision, and only the second time that it upheld validity under that section post-Alice (the first being […]
Know Your Portfolio
“Which of our patents cover what the competitors are doing?” “Where are the holes in our patent coverage?” “Which of our patents cover our products?” “What the heck is in our patent portfolio?!?!” A patent portfolio is both a sword and a shield; leverage your analysis with Clearstone Elements to wield both with agility. These are […]
Legaltech New York Wrap-up
What a week! Our first trip to Legaltech was a whirlwind, but a ton of fun. It was amazing to meet so many people who are excited about new ways that technology can improve our work in the legal industry. The show took place at the Hilton NY Midtown on Feb. 2-4. With thousands of attendees and hundreds […]
Why Semantic Searching Fails For Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) and What You Should Be Doing Instead (PART 3)
Part 3 of 3: What You Should Be Doing Instead This three-part series explains why conventional techniques, particularly “semantics-based” searching, fall short for freedom-to-operate (FTO) searching and analysis. It then puts forth a solution for avoiding these problems. Part I was an introduction to the differences between the searches. Part II identified the deficiencies of semantic searching in relation to FTO analysis. Part III explains […]
Why Semantic Searching Fails For Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) and What You Should Be Doing Instead (PART 2)
Part 2 of 3: Why Semantic Searching Fails for FTO This three-part series explains why conventional techniques, particularly “semantics-based” searching, fall short for freedom-to-operate (FTO) searching and analysis. It then puts forth a solution for avoiding these problems. Part I was an introduction to the differences between the searches. Part II identifies the deficiencies of semantic searching in relation to FTO analysis. […]
Why Semantic Searching Fails For Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) and What You Should Be Doing Instead (PART 1)
Part 1 of 3: Introduction to the differences between Patentability and FTO searching This three-part series explains why conventional techniques, particularly “semantics-based” searching, fall short for freedom-to-operate (FTO) searching and analysis. It then puts forth a solution for avoiding these problems. Part I is an introduction to the differences between the searches. Part II will identify the deficiencies of semantic […]