Although promoting innovation is a laudable goal, the Federal Circuit's broadening of what constitutes patent-eligible subject matter missed the bigger Constitutional target.
1. Induced infringement under §271(b) requires knowledge that the induced acts constitute patent infringement.
Installment of a patented, coin-operated washing machine in the basement of an apartment building without charge except that the landlord and his tenants must deposit 25 cents for every use, should not constitute patent misuse.
The blinding flashes, the aural clamor, the Paparazzi's blank checks to hire hovering helicopters and rent surveillance apartments, Clement says, constitute patent aggression if in a less lethal form than the one that ended Diana's life.
In her view, based on Supreme Court precedent, for a claim to constitute patent-eligible subject matter, it must include an "inventive concept".
The Federal Circuit today will hold an en banc rehearing of a prior decision, CLS Bank International v. Alice Corporation, in which a three-judge panel ruled that an invention related to a computerized trading platform constituted patent-eligible subject matter.
By steering clear of laws that distort the bargaining process, lawmakers can help courts answer difficult questions, such as whether genes, software, and business methods constitute patentable subject matter, whether patents in the life sciences should control inventions that have yet to be discovered, and how to resolve the battles between pharmaceutical companies and generics.
Patent applicants and examiners do not always have the same views about what constitutes a patent's relevant prior art.
This results in so-called "patent families", constituted by several patent documents – often from different countries – all referring to a single first patent application based on the same research result (invention).
