Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today’s report highlights:
- an article reporting how “Congressional hearings scheduled for [last] Thursday to mark up several bills related to patents . . . have been postponed until after Election Day due to the Senate’s adjournment”;
- an article outlining “trends that practitioners, particularly litigators, would be wise to pay close attention to” related to eligibility and software patents; and
- a blog post reporting on the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s announcement that there was “a significant error in its patent term adjustment (PTA) calculations, potentially affecting patents issued between March 19, 2024, and July 30, 2024.”
Ryan Davis wrote an article for Law360 reporting how “Congressional hearings scheduled for [last] Thursday to mark up several bills related to patents . . . have been postponed until after Election Day due to the Senate’s adjournment.” As explained by Davis, the “Judiciary Committee was set to consider three bills dealing with patents: the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act, aimed at setting new rules on which inventions are eligible for patents; the PREVAIL Act, which would put limits on challengers at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board; and the IDEA Act, a measure that would let the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office collect demographic data about inventors.” Davis says “the patent legislation will remain on the Senate’s agenda during the lame duck session of Congress, which begins Nov. 12.”
Michael Gulliford submitted an article for IP Watchdog outlining “trends that practitioners, particularly litigators, would be wise to pay close attention to” related to eligibility and software patents. This is the second part of an article we previously reported on surrounding Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International. Gulliford suggests “practitioners need to draft patents with an eye toward satisfying the USPTO and the Federal Circuit.” Gulliford reasons that, “[w]hereas significantly more software patents will now survive the USPTO’s more forgiving Alice Guidelines, the same cannot be said for the Federal Circuit’s Alice framework.”
Dennis Crouch posted a blog post on PatentlyO reporting on the USPTO’s announcement that there was “a significant error in its patent term adjustment (PTA) calculations, potentially affecting patents issued between March 19, 2024, and July 30, 2024.” Crouch explains how “[t]his error specifically affected two aspects of the PTA calculation: 1. The ‘A’ delay under 35 U.S.C. 154(b)(1)(A) 2. The amount of overlap under 35 U.S.C. 154(b)(2)(A).” According to Crouch, the USPTO report states that “'[p]atentees seeking a revised PTA determination based on this error must submit a timely request for reconsideration of the PTA indicated in the patent under 37 CFR 1.705(b).’”