Intellectual Property Law

Bilski is not settled law yet

Posted on June 02, 2009
I'm kind of surprised, actually. The Supreme Court "granted cert" in Bilski. This means that the Federal Circuit's decision is far from settled law--and that the debate over the patentability of software is about to reach fever pitch. For more wonkish posts on the subject, see here and here.

Sotomayor and software law

Posted on May 26, 2009
I guess I have to jump on the Sotomayor blogwagon, so here goes. What impact would the presumptive associate justice have? The short answer might be "not a whole lot." After all, there are a few other justices on the court too. But over the next couple of days, I'll take ...

Finally got my Google business cards?

Posted on May 18, 2009
...no, I didn't get offered the General Counsel position, but I did get these promotional cards from Google for signing up for their profile program. And now I'm acting like a tiny cog in the giant (but subtle) Google marketing machine because I'm blogging about it...

Are you going to Seattle 2.0 Awards tonight?

Posted on May 08, 2009
I am?and that?s a big commitment for me, since I?m currently in the thick of finals. I want to see if my firm, a finalist, will win! Last I heard, the event was almost sold out, but you might still be able to buy a ticket here. ...

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Check out SeattlePatents.com while I study for finals

Posted on April 28, 2009
As if it wasn?t painfully obvious from my lack of posting, I am currently entering the dreaded Finals Exam Mode. While I turn as white as my undershirt, I recommend you check out my favorite new blog, SeattlePatents.com! It?s authored by the excellent attorneys at Axios Law Group ...

Scope of a lawyer?s authority and Int?l Telemeter Corp.

Posted on April 14, 2009
International Telemeter Corp. v. Teleprompter Corp. , 592 F.2d (2d Cir. 1979), is an old case, but it came up in the context of my professional responsibility course--and it's an intellectual property case with ties to Seattle. Consequently, I felt compelled to write it up...

A defense of software patents in VC-backed startups

Posted on April 09, 2009
The other day, I was reading a few old posts from influential venture capitalist bloggers who were a bit equivocal on the value of software patents to a venture-backed firm. It got me thinking. It's probably true that the applications and the patents themselves don't create the kind of barrier ...

VC confidence moves up

Posted on April 08, 2009
Even though Coderights is more about intellectual property than the "business side" of technology, I thought this was worth passing on. Claire Cain Miller of the NY Time's Bits Blog says the confidence level of venture capitalists moved up a bit in the first quarter...

Burning the Ships

Posted on April 01, 2009
Here's a book you might want to add to your reading list. It's by Microsoft's Deputy General Counsel for Intellectual Property, Marshall Phelps. I don't normally follow what Microsoft does all that closely because I'm usually more interested in the startup scene...

An observation about the practice of law

Posted on March 25, 2009
Please forgive the substance-free content on Coderights of late. I am just getting back into my groove after taking a vacation in the Valley of the Sun last week. I'm currently taking professional responsibility, a class everyone has to take to graduate from an ABA accredited law school...

More on coders as inventors

Posted on March 19, 2009
As I mentioned earlier, I've been reading Ronald D. Slusky's book to help me understand more about "inventorship." Here's an interesting passage that, if you're at all like me, might pique your interest. On page xxi, Slusky says: The difficulty in answering What Is the Invention? arises in part  because from the ...

What if another company has a similar domain name to yours?

Posted on March 18, 2009
Internet Specialties West v. Milon-Digiorgio Enterprises, Inc., No. 07-55087 (9th Cir. Mar. 17, 2009) The Ninth Circuit, where Coderights sits, offered some guidance today. An ISP, Internet Specialties, sued another ISP for trademark infringement over the other company?s domain name...

Patent Reform Act of 2009, the highlights

Posted on March 17, 2009
The following is a very high level review of what I think are the most important revisions in the proposed Patent Reform Act of 2009. Of course, the bill remains just that (i.e., it has yet to become law). First, the most important (from a bottom-line perspective) is probably the proposed ...

Are coders really inventors? How so?

Posted on March 17, 2009
I'm on Spring Break right now, and between some house chores, some outlining for class, and an upcoming trip to see family in Arizona, I'm also reading a copy of Ronald D. Slusky's Invention Analysis and Claiming: A Patent Lawyer's Guide that I "borrowed" from the office...

A first stab at a new law on non-competes in Washington

Posted on March 11, 2009
I have to confess that I'm unclear as to whether it is, or isn't, too late for my representative or senator to introduce new legislation down in Olympia this session. I made a feeble attempt to navigate the site, but decided calling would be a whole lot faster...

I wonder how I would rewrite Bilski

Posted on March 11, 2009
There are now two instances where I'm unsure that the court system is coming up with the right answers. The first is the Bilski decision and the Federal Circuit's "machine or transformation" test. The second has to do with Washington state's current judge made law on non-competition agreements...

Don?t laugh, but I have a theory

Posted on March 10, 2009
They say that habits take a long time to change, but I don't necessarily agree. I used to drive home from work the same way every day. Day after day, I took McDowell west to the 143. But, if one day the 143 were gone, I would just take another ...

More insights on Ferguson

Posted on March 10, 2009
I got an email from Ferguson?s lawyer, Scott C. Harris, that I want to share with you (with his permission, of course). Hello Michael, The Supreme Court held in Diamond v. Chakrabarthy that ?anything new under the sun? is patentable subject matter. Of course, they made exception for pure algorithms and things ...

Facebook and employment policies, a brief bibliography

Posted on March 10, 2009
I just did a quick look at what's been published on employers, their employment policies, and Facebook (specifically). I did not find anything specifically on point. Most of what's been written to date is related to the use of Facebook in making hiring decisions...

Ferguson digs into the meaning of ?machine?

Posted on March 09, 2009
The Federal Circuit handed down its decision in In re Ferguson a few days ago (No. 2007-1232). In the case, a patent applicant was seeking a patent for a "pure" business method patent. More specifically, the claims dealt with a certain business method for selling software...

Disclosure Meeting!

Posted on March 06, 2009

If you get laid off from Microsoft, you should be able startup something else

Posted on March 04, 2009

Accenture asks the Supreme Court to hear Bilski

Posted on March 04, 2009

Employer? Meet Facebook and its friend Hobson

Posted on March 03, 2009

Can?t we all just keep innovating?

Posted on March 03, 2009

Can your employer really stop you from taking a new job?

Posted on February 28, 2009

Save the date: Seattle Lunch 2.0 Happy Hour

Posted on February 26, 2009
The following is cut and paste from Upcoming.org. My thanks to Josh Maher in advance for not suing me for copyright infringement! Axios Law Group, 1525 Fourth Ave Suite 800Seattle, Washington 98101 Get Directions What do you get when a law firm and a software startup share an office? ...

You?re a programmer, but should you be a union organizer too?

Posted on February 26, 2009
Back when I was working as one of hundreds of coders for the Fortune 500, every now and then the lunch conversation (usually at Schlotzsky?s) would turn to unionization. Personally, I wasn?t a big fan of it because I wanted to set my own rates, but a few were...

Principles of Software Contracts is on Westlaw

Posted on February 25, 2009
I first got a draft copy personally from Prof. Hillman a few years ago and now it's on Westlaw at ALI-SOFTWARE.

A Bilski update

Posted on January 07, 2009
A little while ago, I got a copy of Fenwick and West's Winter 2008-09 Intellectual Property Bulletin. In it, I read an interesting write up of Bilski by Robert Sachs and Robert Hulse. They say the decision "can only serve to disrupt settled expectations among patent holders, inventors, and the business ...

Temporary aphasia and the art of provisional patent drafting

Posted on January 03, 2009
I'm currently drafting a provisional application for a piece of software technology I understand very well. I mean to say, I understand it really, really well. So why does my writing suck? I look over my drafts and I feel like Coderights is better written than this provisional...

Happy new year, and what I?ve been up to

Posted on January 03, 2009
Coderights kind of fell off the map for me after my finals, so my apologies. Maybe I've just been shocked and befuddled by Seattle's collective response to the snow. I've also been thinking about submitting a paper I wrote on standards setting organizations and open source communities to a few people...

Linux Defenders

Posted on December 10, 2008
I can hardly let Linux Defenders go without mention on here on Coderights. Since I'm a little busy studying for my one exam and working on my open source final paper, I'll just give you the summary and some links. Partners like the Open Invention Network and the Software Freedom Law ...

What is a motivation to combine?

Posted on December 10, 2008
Warning: total law geek post follows. One of the things I struggle to grasp is what can serve as an adequate basis for a motivation to combine references in a 103 rejection. Put more simply, a standard rejection of a patent application happens when a patent examiner combines two (or ...

Coderights is in slow down mode

Posted on December 09, 2008
As you can probably tell, I haven't been posting much. Right now all my free time is dedicated to writing a paper for class and studying for my one exam. See you later next week!

Tax policy should be changed to fuel innovation in startups

Posted on November 28, 2008
I came across an interesting article while I was researching a paper I'm doing on open standards. Xuan-Thao Nguyen and Jeffrey A. Maine observe that, if a technology company does its own research and development, it can write off those expenses. However, if that same company buys another company just to acquire ...

Even the pros seem a little confused about ?standards?

Posted on November 28, 2008
As I mentioned earlier, I have a paper I'm working on for class. It's on open standards, so I thought I'd look around Westlaw to see if there's anything significant written on the topic. What I've found so far shows that there is a little confusion about "standards" among lawyers--even ...

Remember, the name of the game is the claim

Posted on November 27, 2008
So, the 'net is currently all a twitter (no, not that Twitter) about McDonalds and its so-called patent on sandwiches. The story posted on Slashdot, "McDonalds Files To Patent Making a Sandwich," was good for 294 comments.  Matt Asay at CNet's Open Road seemed pleased that "software isn't the only industry that comes ...

A simple question nets 864 comments

Posted on November 26, 2008
Holy smokes. There is a massive comment thread going on over at Groklaw. Gene Quinn of IPWatchDog posed a simple question to Groklaw readers. He said, "From a conceptual standpoint why not allow for software to be patented. What is the harm?" 864 comments later, and we still don't have an answer.

Will Bilski keep the Federal Circuit in the driver?s seat?

Posted on November 26, 2008
Steven Seidenberg at InsideCounsel has a nice, easy to read article about that predates the Bilski decision but discusses the key cases leading up to it. His article reminded me of some of the things my patents professor taught me. In short, she taught us that the Federal Circuit has long ...

The latest Facebook case

Posted on November 26, 2008
Leader Technologies, Inc. v. Facebook (D.D.E. 2008) I know, it's been way too long since I've written up a case. How better than to resume with the latest Facebook litigation?  Leader Technologies invents and sells web- and internet-based communication technology...

Topic selected: really open standards

Posted on November 26, 2008
I've selected a topic for my IT Standards and Open Source Software class. I'm going to write about what I call "really open standards." It will be a list of principles similar to those promulgated by the OSI for open source. You see, participants in standards settings organizations usually license their ...

Is someone from Google heading to the White House?

Posted on November 26, 2008
I felt like I had to get at least one election day story in here. Christopher Saunders asks: Who Will be Obama's CTO? I guess I didn't realize that Obama promised to appoint someone like a chief technology officer. Maybe even at the cabinet level. Saunders goes on to quote ...

Bilski offers a little something for everyone

Posted on November 26, 2008
Kind of like Katrina, Bilski completely flooded my email while I was in New Orleans, and now it's taking me days to empty it! I want to just start with the heavy hitters: Patently-O, Peter Zura, and the like. The day after the decision came out, Patently-O posted on How to ...

Bilski?s out

Posted on November 26, 2008
The Federal Circuit just released a 132 page opinion in the Bilski case. Luckily there was a security breach at the Seatac airport, so I'll have plenty of time to read it. UPDATE: it looks like software patents will be "left to another day." Update-2: looks like manipulations (transformations) of "data" of ...

Anticipation for Bilski builds

Posted on November 26, 2008
I've been seeing more and more posts over the past few days the Bilski -- which is supposed to be released in October... that only gives the Federal Circuit a few days to get their act together. Mostly they rehash the issue with more or less accuracy...

Heretical questions about open source

Posted on November 26, 2008
I was reading RedHat assistant general counsel Rob Tiller's post on an intellectual property symposium while I was riding on the Fourteen into downtown Seattle today. The Fourteen was an interesting backdrop because it takes the most populated route through the city...

What will Drizzle mean for Mysql?s dual license model?

Posted on November 26, 2008
Apologies for being an echo in the echo chamber, but Stephen O'Grady at RedMonk posted an interesting commentary on the Mysql fork that is Drizzle and what the fork portends for Mysql's (owned by Sun) dual license business model. Mr. Grady suggests that Drizzle is a rejection of the Mysql approach, even ...

Bilski?s first victim? In re Halligan

Posted on November 26, 2008
If you're interested in the patentability of software and the impact of the recent Bilski case, this decision may be of some import. You can find a more detailed write up of the decision at Patently-O. I'm just going to summarize it here and offer some comments...

I've been moonlighting: Airlift Ventures and AFB

Posted on February 21, 2008
I realized it's been over a week since I've posted here on Coderights. I thought I should give you a little update. While Coderights is still my first love, I've been moonlighting on a few new sites. The first, I'm proud to tell you about, is Airlift Ventures (available at airliftventures...

What does Romney's campaign tell us about startups?

Posted on February 08, 2008
What message does Mitt Romney's failed campaign have for startups? You and I would have been in agreement in saying not much--until this morning. I was reading Elizabeth Holmes's WSJ piece, "Romney's Screen Test Falls Flat." (Click here.) As I read, I realized that this parallels a lot of failed startups that I've known...

Replay: Seattle is the new Silicon Valley, says NY Times

Posted on February 08, 2008
I just noticed that Adam Hanig passed along a recent New York Times article likening Seattle to Silicon Valley. The article notes that a "start-up ecosystem needs social networks, support businesses and a business culture that views failure as a badge of honor, not shame...

The next Ingite Seattle is less than two weeks away

Posted on February 07, 2008
I completely blew it on the last one, but I definitely make it to this one. Ignite Seattle is a kind of a Big Deal. According to the site, there were over 350 attendees at the last one (would have been 351). Apparently, this year:we are going to have 16 Ask Later talks...

This is kind of what I'm talking about

Posted on February 07, 2008
Last week I was bemoaning the state of relations between lawyers and startups. It still seems to me that lawyers are strangely missing in the startup scene. Oh sure, they're around at events (relegated to "service provider" status) and willing to sell some hours...

January traffic rankings are out, skillbit debuts big

Posted on February 07, 2008
Marcelo Calbucci's eagerly awaited monthly traffic ranking of Seattle startups has been released, and the Seattle Startup Weekend project, skillbit, debuted at position 134. I think that's pretty impressive!

Will YHOO+MSFT=good news for startups? Or bad?

Posted on February 07, 2008
I've seen a few different perspectives fly across my GOOG Reader in the past week on this issue. The first were some rumblings about whether having one entity serving as a startup offramp would be bad for the startup market. These posts showed up on both Tech Confidential and VentureBeat...

Trials of Law School

Posted on February 03, 2008
This looks kind of interesting: The site The Trials of Law School is here.

Dreaming of a law/startup summit

Posted on February 02, 2008
I was reflecting on today's Saturday House experience while I was running errands tonight. I loved the way the conversations moved fluidly. A few intriguing ideas came up, and they circulated effortlessly. Who cares where they went? Startup Weekend was somewhat similar, if more chaotic and less focused...

Saturday House is fun and valuable

Posted on February 02, 2008
I finally made it over to Saturday House today, and I'm really sorry I didn't do it before. For those who read Coderights often, you're probably tired of hearing this, but Phoenix (where I'm from) didn't have a critical mass of passionate technologists willing to hang out, like the folks at Saturday House...

NY legislation to target social networking sites

Posted on January 30, 2008
My apologies for renewsing this, but I don't have time to look into it right at the moment. However, I do know that a lot of the people I've been meeting over the past week here in Seattle are doing social networking technology. Just because the article refers to Myspace and Facebook doesn't mean you won't get caught up in it...

AFB: notes from ESIF

Posted on January 30, 2008
Just a cross post note: I recently posted my notes from NWEN's panel discussion on the upcoming Early Stage Investment Forum at the Angel Finance Blog, here.

Patent claims: the verbal fence

Posted on January 28, 2008
Now I'm liveblogging class... So, if a patent claim is like a verbal fence delineating your intellectual property line, wouldn't you want the line to be as far out into the pasture as possible? For an obvious example, invented a way to lock rows in a database where would you want to draw your property line? Would you want to draw the line very close by describing only the very specific parts of your recording locking technology? Or would you want to draw a line around all record locking? Of course...

"The name of the game is the claim"

Posted on January 28, 2008
In other words, what are patent claims?I'm having a little trouble adjusting back into law school study mode after Seattle Startup Weekend, so I thought I'd live blog what I'm reading about patents. My professor wrote a concise guide that explains patent law, and we're on the chapter two: patent claims...

NWEN Think Tank (Secrets of the Early-Stage Investment Forum)

Posted on January 28, 2008
I wasn't going to sign up for this NWEN workshop because I normally have class at that time, then I realized that the workshop was being held at Seattle University. Shoot, I'll just walk across the mall! You might find it interesting too:Our panel will share personal insights on how ESIF helped their business efforts and will offer suggestions that can help you be successful...

SWS: over

Posted on January 28, 2008
That's it. It's over. Andrew was right. It was a roller coaster. 

SWS: so... everyone is cleaning up

Posted on January 27, 2008
A core team got formed. Nathan Kaiser will be driving at least until a meeting with the core team in a week. The developers took over the sound system. I think we're live.

45 minutes to launch

Posted on January 27, 2008
Security promised to kick us out at 9:30, so I guess we need to be live.

SWS: less than three hours left

Posted on January 27, 2008
...and now I'm jumping over to work on articles for the new company. Confused by the past Startup Weekend structures and whether I need to follow it or not in Washington.

SWS: They came, they taped, they aired

Posted on January 27, 2008
Just watched the clip on KING5. I wonder if it will be online...

SWS: more media

Posted on January 27, 2008
Another interview, this time on KIRO. And, oh yeah, I just got my first taste of the app. It was the prettiest stack trace I've seen in two days :-)

SWS: 3:00 p.m. 7m meeting

Posted on January 27, 2008
Design: the corporate site is up. 6:00 pm deadline ok. UX: the specs are goodLegal: privacy, terms and condition, patent pending still pending (drawings and descriptions); <claps on that>Bizdev: I think they are doing some testing... not sure what they are doing...