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. […]
Bridging the Divide Between Patent Analysts and Engineers
The communication divide between a company’s legal department and its engineering corps is an ongoing source of contention, confusion, and consternation for many companies. This divide is especially problematic in the patent context where legal matters are ever-intertwined with technical complexity. For example, successful drafting and prosecution of patent applications requires in-depth technical knowledge. Effective […]
Five Reasons to Memorialize Patent Claim Analysis
For decades, a real problem area facing patent professionals has been the inefficiency of searching and analyzing patents for purposes of infringement. Sure, there are many ways to search and retrieve information for prior art or validity purposes based on patent disclosure, from basic keyword searching to advanced semantics-based algorithms, but these methods routinely fall short when […]