Watson, Come Here … You’re Needed at the PTO
WITHOUT A TRANSFORMATION OF THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SUPPORTING PATENT EXAMINERS, "PATENT REFORM" WOULD BE LIKE REARRANGING THE DECK CHAIRS ON THE TITANIC
Guest Post: “INFORMATION AND THE NATURE OF REALITY” (Greg Aharonian)
INFORMATION, RATHER THAN MASS AND ENERGY, IS COMING TO BE SEEN AS THE FUNDAMENTAL CURRENCY OF THE UNIVERSE. ... any judge or lawyer who argues that information isn't physical in the context of patent law - SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY DISBARRED.
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011
World Technology Network During the past year, Elman Technology Law, P.C. (“ETL”) sponsored two programs of the World Technology Network. Earlier this month, we participated in a World Technology Summit, an annual event that I first attended in London in 2001 as a founding member of the WTN. Each Summit is a two-day conference with [...]
Science Fiction Roundtable at the World Technology Summit, sponsored by Elman Technology Law
By reading science fiction, we stretch our minds towards a vision of the future that we, as technologists, then help to engender.
Guest Post: Physicists convert information into energy – info is physical (Greg Aharonian)
ALL references to "information" in patent claims should never, ever, never, ever again get 101 rejections for not manipulating something physical. And ALL references to "data" should equally never, ever, never, ever get 101 rejections as well, given the relational connection between data and information. It's all physical - it's all technical.
Department of Justice, FTC, and US Patent and Trademark Office to Hold Workshop on Promoting Innovation
Workshop on May 26 to Explore the Intersection of Patent Policy and Competition Policy and its Implications for Promoting Innovation WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced today that they will hold a joint public workshop on the [...]
What Subject Matter is Patentable?
Reading Myriad Genetics While Waiting For Bilski. Why is this molecule different from all other molecules? By Gerry J. Elman1 As I write on April 29, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court hasn’t yet issued its anxiously-awaited decision in the Bilski2 case. This case is to determine the whether a particular business-related method is outside the [...]
April 26th: World Intellectual Property Day
Celebrate World Intellectual Property Day with us! For the past ten years, April 26th has been set aside to commemorate the value that intellectual property provides to the world economy and well-being. The day this year also marks the 40th anniversary of the effective date of the International Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization [...]
PBS Newshour gives a balanced report on the gene patenting debate
Excerpt from transcript of April 2, 2010 PBS Newshour: A major goal of modern health science has been to identify the links between our genes and disease, to assess risk, and to find treatments and cures. Over the last two decades, university researchers and a multibillion dollar biotech industry have expanded the study of the [...]
Getting Beyond the ACLU and Public Patent Foundation’s Anti-Gene-Patent Grandstanding
by Scott Rylan Powell and Gerry J. Elman† In New York City on October 20, 2009, the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU") hosted a screening of In The Family, a documentary on the emotional turmoil experienced by people across the nation who carry certain mutations along the Breast Cancer 1 and 2 ("BRCA") genes. Everyone [...]
ACLU lawyers face off against the U.S. patent office and Myriad Genetics:
In a packed courtroom in New York City, a federal judge hears arguments about gene patents for BRCA By Scott Rylan Powell and Gerry J. Elman On February 2, 2010, Judge Robert M. Sweet at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan heard oral arguments in the case of Association for Molecular Pathology, et al. v. [...]
USPTO launches bimonthly for Independent Inventors
The United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") has just published the first issue of Inventors Eye, a new electronic publication for and about America’s independent and small entity inventor community. Inventors Eye will appear every other month. Each issue is expected to feature tips on working with the USPTO; events, organizations and meetings of interest to [...]