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New Directions in Patenting Process Inventions
35 U.S.C. '101 defines processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter as the categories of inventions that can be the subject matter of a patent. 35 U.S.C. '100(b) defines the term 'process' to mean 'process, art, or method, and includes a new use of a known process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or material.' Section 101 also requires that the subject matter sought to be patented be 'useful.'
'[P]rocesses represent an especially troublesome type of invention ' because almost anything can be claimed as a series of steps that technically can be considered a process, but the term process is so broad that it can be used to claim inventions that cover nothing more than human conduct or thought processes that are totally unrelated to any science or technology.' Ex Parte Lundgren, Appeal no. 2003-2088 (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ('PTO') Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences ('BPAI'), 2005), at p. 10.
Courts excepted from the above statutory categories of patentable subject matter 'a patent on the [idea, law of nature or natural phenomena] itself.' Gottschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 71-72 (1972). Nonetheless, methods and products employing abstract ideas, natural phenomena, and laws of nature to perform a real-world function may be patentable. See PTO Interim Guidelines for Examination of Patent Applications for Patent Subject Matter Eligibility ('Guidelines'), Official Gazette Notices, Nov. 22, 2005. Recently, the PTO and federal courts have refined the contours of patentable subject matter for process inventions through case law and the Guidelines.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Stranger to the Deed Rule
In 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.