Seattle Partner Mauricio Uribe was quoted in “Patent Owners Face Tougher Playing Field as Obama Exits,” an article published in Law360.   Excerpt: As President Barack Obama’s signature accomplishment in…

San Diego Attorney Caleb Bates was quoted in “Framework established but uncertainty remains over ‘pay-for-delay’ drug payments,” an article published by Legal NewsLine. Excerpt: An appeals court ruling in favor…

Bruce S. Itchkawitz, Ph.D. authored “How to Get Your US Patent Approved Faster,” which was published on GamesIndustry.biz, the market-leading website and community for news and information about the global videogames…

Knobbe Martens, consistently ranked among the top intellectual property law firms worldwide, has been named the  2016 “Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year” in the nation, by Lawyer Monthly…

Knobbe Martens is pleased to announce that Founding Partner Don Martens received the Orange County Intellectual Property Law Association’s (OCIPLA) Lifetime Achievement Award. The honor, presented at OCIPLA’s 2016 Holiday…

Knobbe Martens is pleased to announce that Partner Michael Fuller has been named to the San Diego Business Journal’s inaugural “SD500” list. The list, published on December 12 as a…

A Unanimous U.S. Supreme Court Pulls Back the Reach of Damages Awards for Design Patents Summary The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, December 6, 2016, unanimously held that damages awards…

Alan Laquer authored “Data Security Best Practices: Protecting Your Trade Secret Assets,” which was published on the In The House website, an online community for in-house legal professionals. This article…

San Diego Partner Joseph Reisman was quoted in “Promega IP Case May Portend More Liability For Exporting Cos.,” an article published in Law360.   Excerpt: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments…

欺诈检测专利属于无专利资格的主题 在FairWarning IP, LLC诉 Iatric Systems, Inc.一案（上诉编号：2015-1985）中，联邦巡回法院维持了地方法院根据《美国法典》第35卷第101节作出的FairWarning专利属于无专利资格的主题这一判定。 FairWarning起诉Iatric Systems，主张其名为“欺诈及滥用检测的系统与方法”的专利。具体而言，该专利描述了通过识别用户访问敏感数据的不寻常模式来进行欺诈和滥用检测的方法，并陈述了使用审计日志数据检测对患者健康信息的不当访问的应用规则。基于Alice一案中确定的专利资格两步测试法，地方法院裁定该专利：(1)涉及抽象概念，和(2)不包含可将抽象概念转化为可取得专利权的概念的内容。 在确认步骤1时，联邦巡回法院认为，这些权利要求包含(1)分析信息（抽象概念类别中的心理过程）和(2)呈现结果（该分析的辅助部分）。联邦巡回法院将本案与同样要求保护应用规则的McRO诉Bandai案中的专利适格性权利要求区分开来，认为该专利包含要求保护的规则而不像本专利包含计算机，可以带来技术进步。联邦巡回法院进一步认为，根据Alice案中的步骤2，FairWarning的专利没有述及将抽象概念转化为可取得专利权的概念的内容。虽然FairWarning辩称该专利描述了不同信息源的编译和组合且因此按照DDR Holdings案解决了技术问题，但联邦巡回法院驳回了这一论点，并解释称仅出于收集和分析目的选择信息并无重大意义，且未将要求保护的方法与抽象概念类别相区分。     申请和说明书免责声明缩小了权利要求范围 在Poly-America, L.P.诉 API Industries, Inc.一案（上诉编号：2016-1200）中，联邦巡回法院对基于在说明书和申请过程中“明确且毫不含糊地”否定权利要求范围而作出的狭义权利要求解释予以维持。 Poly-America起诉API侵犯其拉绳垃圾袋专利。所作出的判决部分集中在对“短密封件”这一术语的解释。被诉装置具有并未向内延伸的短密封件。该专利权利要求书没有载明该袋的短密封件是否向内延伸。地方法院基于说明书和申请过程将该术语解释为要求有向内延伸的密封件。因此，地方法院作出了有利于API的判决。 联邦巡回法院维持原判，解释称发明人已明确、毫不含糊且有意地将要求保护的发明限定为向内延伸的短密封件。在说明书中描述的每个实施方案均有此限制。此外，说明书每一章节均指出向内延伸的短密封件的重要性。联邦巡回法院认为，这两个事实一起证明了地方法院对“短密封件”的解释。联邦巡回法院还认为，Poly-America在专利申请过程中否认非向内延伸的短密封件也巩固了地方法院对该权利要求的解释。     联邦巡回法院可能不审查未上诉的权利要求解释 在苹果公司(Apple Inc.)诉三星电子有限公司( Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)…