Patent Law Practice Center

Litigation Funding in Uncertain Patent Eligibility Times

A patent is an exclusive right. This means that the owner of a patent can prevent others from engaging in activities that are covered by an issued patent. But as is true with any right, a patent is only worth something if the owner is willing to take action to preserve the rights and litigate against those who are treading on the rights granted. In the United States, that means litigation in federal district court, which can easily cost millions of dollars.

Today, given the climate within the industry, being willing to take action when infringement is suspected is only the first hurdle. Yes, the decision to undertake litigation is a difficult one regardless of whether it is made by a company or an individual. Attention is diverted from other endeavors and opportunities, and there is a very real financial cost associated with litigating a dispute. Litigation is not free.

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A patent conversation with Bruce Kisliuk

Bruce Kisliuk retired from the United States Patent and Trademark Office last summer as the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Administration after a 30+ year career at the Office. He is now a senior patent counselor with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. I had always wanted to interview Kisliuk, but the opportunity never presented itself until recently. I interviewed Kisliuk on November 24, 2015, in a wide ranging conversation that lasted nearly 90 minutes.

In addition to a prolonged and detailed “get to know you” conversation where we dive into his musical tastes, that he is a history buff, and not at all into either Star Trek or Star Wars, we talked substantive patent law for an hour. What follows are the highlights of our conversation.

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Will the Federal Circuit Reconsider Ariosa v. Sequenom en banc?

On June 12, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a decision in Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v. Sequenom, Inc. The Federal Circuit decision has been widely criticized (see here and here, for example). Sequenom has asked for reconsideration en banc, with 12 separate amici filers in support of Sequenom’s petition for reconsideration en banc.

The original panel decision dealt with whether a non-invasive method for detecting paternally inherited cell-free fetal DNA (“cffDNA”) from a blood sample of a pregnant woman was patentable. See U.S. Patent No. 6,258,540. The district court ruled that the method claims were patent ineligible and the Federal Circuit agreed. Judge Linn was uncomfortable with the decision, but wrote in a concurrence that he thought that the outcome was mandated by the “sweeping language of the test set out in Mayo.”

Sequenom has retained Tom Goldstein, co-founder of the SCOTUS blog, to handle the appeal. Goldstein has served as counsel in over 100 Supreme Court cases over the last 15 years. His presence sends a clear message that Sequenom is heading to the Supreme Court if they do not prevail in an en banc rehearing.

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A Conversation on Patent Eligibility

Earlier this fall, I had the opportunity to do a webinar conversation with Bob Stoll, former Commissioner for Patents at the USPTO and current partner at Drinker Biddle in Washington, D.C.  Our wide-ranging discussion lasted for just over one hour. You can access the entire recording, free, at Patent Eligibility in a Time of Patent Turmoil.

What follows is a bit of our conversation to whet your appetite.

STOLL: As someone very interested in the patent arena and getting the standards correct, I’ve been really worrying about things. I think we are in a very confusing state at the moment. I think that the courts are actually undermining patent eligibility in many different areas. And the irony seems to be, Gene, that the Supreme Court and now this Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit seem to be not considering the fact that the United States is leading in many of these emerging technologies and specifically thinking about software and diagnostic methods and personalized medicine and gene sequences….

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Alice v. CLS Bank – A Sea Change for Software

Since the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Alice v. CLS Bank, I have been arguing that the decision would have far reaching implications for software patents. Initially, many were skeptical, and surprisingly many still are, even with the Patent Office issuing Alice rejections like they are candy at Halloween, with the Federal Circuit invalidating software claims in case after case citing Alice, and with the PTAB likewise finding software patent claims of all types invalid. There is no doubt that things are different and a great many issued software patents and pending software applications will be worthless. Sure, moving forward, we have ideas about what needs to be in the disclosure, but you cannot add new matter to an application or issued patent, and software patents are now all about the technical disclosure.

Against this backdrop of disbelief and denial, I spoke with Professor Mark Lemley on August 28, 2014. Lemley shares my view, for the most part. I published our entire interview on IPWatchdog.com, The Ramifications of Alice: A Conversation with Mark Lemley. What follows are some of the highlights of our conversation.

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