Software and Business Method Patents

Scope

 * Use this page to list sources related to software and business method patents. Do not list sources related to patent issues generally or patent issues that merely involve technology or a technology company. Instead limit this page to sources that discuss issues of patents on software or patents on business methods.

Controversial Suits/Patents

 * Michael Barclay, Supreme Court to Decide Standard for Proving Invalidity of a Patent, Eff.org (Nov. 29, 2010).
 * Ryan Paul, Controversial Amazon 1-Click patent survives review, Ars Technica (Nov. 17, 2010).
 * PRWeb, Patent Case Threatens Sales of Magellan GPS, San Francisco Chronicle (Nov. 12, 2010).
 * Kyle Orland, ITC Sets Dates for Wii Patent Infringement Investigation, Gamasutra (Nov. 12, 2010).
 * Sam Oliver, China lawsuit seeks to invalidate Apple's iPhone design patents, AppleInsider (Nov. 15, 2010).
 * Leena Rao, Motorola Strikes Back, Sues Microsoft For Infringement Of 16 Patents, TechCrunch (Nov. 10, 2010).
 * Gene Quinn, Business Methods: Concrete & Tangible Description a Must, IPWatchdog (Nov. 4, 2010).
 * Matthew Lasar, Rollover image on your website? That will be $80,000 (please), Ars Technica (Oct. 14, 2010).
 * Nick Saint, Sorry Facebook, Google Already Had A Patent On Location-Based Social Networks, SFGate (Oct. 7, 2010).
 * Jacqui Cheng, Cover Flow may cost Apple $208.5 million in damages, Ars Technica (Oct. 4, 2010).
 * Sanity From the 1st Post-Bilski Decision from BPAI: In Re Proudler, Groklaw (Jul. 14, 2010).
 * Dennis Crouch, Bilski v. Kappos, Patently-O (Jun. 28, 2010).
 * Chris Forsman, Apple loses $21.7 million in patent suit, appeal in progress, Ars Technica (Dec. 8, 2009).
 * Lex Friedman, Apple sued for alleged infringement over iPhone camera, MacWorld (Dec. 4, 2009).
 * Mikael Ricknäs, Lawsuit alleges Palm Pre violates copyright, MacWorld (Dec. 4, 2009).
 * Mike Magee, Windows 7 Alleged to breach patent, TG Daily (Dec. 3, 2009).
 * Federal Circuit affirms summary judgment of obviousness for bulk email patent, Patently-O (Dec. 2, 2009).
 * Matt Asay, To troll or not to troll, is that the question?, CNet News (Dec. 2, 2009).
 * Martin Goetz, In defense of software patents, Patently-O (Dec. 1, 2009).
 * Elinor Mills, Microsoft, ex-worker settle claims, Cnet News (Nov. 17, 2009).
 * Elinor Mills, Microsoft suit alleges ex-worker stole trade secrets, Cnet News (Jan. 30, 2009).
 * Pamela Jones, Microsoft patents Sudo, Groklaw.com (Nov. 11, 2009).
 * Joe Mullin, Supreme skepticism over Bilski claims puts method patents on shaky ground, Law.com (Nov. 9, 2009).
 * Tony Mauro, A math geek's ride to the high court in landmark patent fight, Law.com (Nov. 9, 2009).
 * Joelle Tessler, Patent case before Supreme Court could have major implications for software, Q13Fox (Nov. 7, 2009).
 * Stephen Shankland, Eolas sues corporate giants over Web technology, CNET News (Oct. 6, 2009).
 * Robin Wauters, Facebook still risks having to reveal its entire source code to leader technologies, TechCrunch (Sep. 9, 2009).
 * Frederic Lardinois, Google patents its homepage, ReadWriteWeb (Sep. 2, 2009).
 * David Kravets,It's baaaaaack … Appeals court resurrects SCO lawsuit, Wired Thread Level, (Aug. 24, 2009).
 * John Timmer, Storing text docs in XML may run afoul of Microsoft patent, Ars Technica (Aug. 7, 2009).

Patent Reform

 * Justices to Hear Microsoft Patent Case Reuters (Nov. 29, 2010).
 * Mullin, Joe, Patent Litigation Extra: Heavy Hitters Back Microsoft Supreme Court Bid in i4i Case, Corporate Counsel (Sep. 30, 2010).
 * Barclay, Michael, EFF Supports Microsoft in Seeking to Make it Easier to Invalidate Patents, EFF.org (Sep. 29, 2010).
 * Acuo Technologies, Acuo Technologies announces patent for asset communication format within a computer network, EarthTimes (Nov. 27, 2009).
 * Surgient, Surgient awarded federated cloud patent, multiple industry leadership awards, EarthTimes (Nov. 19, 2009).
 * Rik Myslewski, US Supremes prod software patent law - Speed dating and horse whispering, The Register (Nov. 11, 2009).
 * Kristina Peterson, Obama admin backs proposed changes to patent system, WSJ (Oct 6, 2009).
 * Ryan Paul, Red Hat tells Supremes: software patents stifle innovation, Ars Technica (Oct. 3, 2009).
 * Andrew Donoghue, Microsoft pushes for single global patent system, CNET News (Sep. 2, 2009).
 * Nate Anderson, Software patents: there's no "baby" in this "bathwater", Ars Technica (Sep. 1, 2009).
 * Jason Schultz, The Future of Method Patentability, Cyberlaw Cases (Aug. 31, 2009).
 * Ryan Paul, Microsoft issues patent promise, dispels Mono legal concerns, Ars Technica (Jul. 7, 2009).
 * IPFrontline, USPTO and Rospatent Sign Agreement for Rospatent to Serve as an International Searching Authority, IPFrontline.com (Nov 12, 2010)

Battle of the Giants

 * Don Clark, Judge Deals Paul Allen a Setback in Patent Lawsuit, WSJ.com (Dec. 13, 2010)
 * Damon Darlin, Google Settles Suit Over Buzz and Privacy, The New York Times (November 3, 2010).
 * Erick Schonfeld, Facebook Granted Broad Patent Covering Location-Based Social Networks And Checkins, TechCrunch (Nov. 17, 2010).
 * Abigail Field, Google Strikes Back at Oracle in Java Patent Lawsuit, DailyFinance (Nov. 15, 2010).
 * Erick Schonfeld, The Complaint: Apple’s Patent Lawsuit Against HTC Is All About Android, TechCrunch (March 2, 2010).
 * Chris Foresman, ITC staff sides with Nokia in Apple complaint as trial begins, Ars Technica (Nov. 3, 2010).
 * Jack Purcher, Apple Files Lawsuit against Motorola to Defend Multi-Touch, Patently Apple (Oct. 30, 2010).
 * Jacqui Cheng, Google opens up can of open source worms in Oracle Java suit, Ars Technica (Oct. 6, 2010).
 * Chris Foresman, Motorola asks ITC, two federal courts to throw book at Apple, Ars Technica (Oct. 6, 2010).
 * Josh Halliday, Microsoft sues Motorola over Android – and all the other mobile lawsuits, visually, Guardian UK Technology Blog (Oct. 4, 2010).
 * Motorola Mobility Sues Apple for Patent Infringement, Motorola Media Center (Oct. 6, 2010).
 * Emil Protalinski, Microsoft sues Motorola, citing Android patent infringement, Ars Technica (Oct. 1, 2010).
 * Troy Wolverton, Apple and Nokia's battle hots up, BBC News (Dec. 11, 2009).
 * Andrew Orlowski, Virgin Media smites TV software patents, The Register (Dec. 2, 2009).
 * Eric Slivka, Psystar agrees to pay nearly $2.7 million in settlement with Apple, MacRumors & Engadget (Dec. 1, 2009).
 * Steve Lohr and James Kanter, Intel pays A.M.D. $1.25 billion to settle legal disputes, The New York Times (Nov. 12, 2009).
 * Nilay Patel, Nokia vs. Apple: the in-depth analysis, Engadget (Oct. 29, 2009).
 * Troy Wolverton, Nokia suing Apple over the iPhone, BBC News (Oct 22, 2009).
 * Jim Dalrymple, Psystar releases Mac clone software, CNET News (Oct. 22, 2009).
 * Chris Foresman, Facebook ensnared in two social networking patent disputes, Ars Technica (Oct. 11, 2009).
 * Jacqui Cheng, Company that won $585M from Microsoft sues Apple, Google, Ars Technica (Oct. 6, 2009).
 * David Kravets, Twitter fires back in patent infringement lawsuit, Wired: Threat Level (Oct. 6, 2009).
 * St. Louis Business Journal, Big River, Sprint settle patent infringement suit, St. Louis Business Journal (Oct. 1, 2009).
 * Ina Fried, Microsoft gets big patent verdict overturned, Ars Technica (Sep 30, 2009).
 * Chris Foresman, USPTO ruling on "pod" sets up David v. Goliath scenario, Ars Technica (Sep. 23, 2009).
 * Ina Fried, Microsoft to be heard on Word injunction appeal, CNET News (Sep. 22, 2009).
 * Zach Lowe, Skype founders accuse eBay of using technology illegally, IP Law and Business (Sep. 18, 2009).
 * Jason Mick, Makers of WoW, LOTR Online, Guild Wars, and Everquest sued by patent firm, DailyTech (Sep. 18, 2009).
 * T. Peter Andrew, Broadcom sues Emulex for patent infringement, Reuters (Sep. 14, 2009).
 * Elinor Mills, Microsoft reiterates case against Word injunction, CNET News (Sep. 14, 2009).
 * Elinor Mills, Appeals court rules Microsoft infringed patent, CNET News (Sep. 11, 2009).
 * Scott Fulton, Jury verdict against Microsoft overturned in precedent-setting ruling, BetaNews (Sep. 11, 2009).
 * Eric Bangeman, DISH Network told to fork over another $200 million to TiVo, Ars Technica (Sep. 4, 2009).
 * Nancy Gohring, Microsoft gets reprieve in Word case, PC World (Sep. 3, 2009).
 * Gene Quinn, Twitter sued for patent infringement in S. District of TX, IPWatchdog (Aug. 26, 2009).
 * Steven Musil, Judge orders Microsoft to stop selling Word, CNET News (Aug. 11, 2009).
 * David Kravets, Lawsuit: Twitter method infringes patents — update, Wired Thread Level (Aug 5, 2009).
 * Jacqui Cheng, Patent busters score win as virtual subdomain patent revoked, Ars Technica (Jun. 17, 2009).
 * Dawn Kawamoto, NetApp files patent suit against Sun, CNET (Sept. 5, 2007)

Open Source

 * Ryan Paul, Linux Foundation to Microsoft: stop secretly attacking Linux, Ars Technica (Sep. 10, 2009).
 * Ina Fried, Pro-Linux group nabs Microsoft patents, CNET News (Sep. 8, 2009).
 * Ryan Paul, New Linux patch could circumvent Microsoft's FAT patents, Ars Technica (Jul. 1, 2009).
 * Erik Sherman, Twitter’s Patent Strategy: Don’t Bother., CBS Interactive Business Network Bnet (October 13, 2010)
 * Erik Sherman, Tweetie Acquisition Finally Gives Twitter a Patent Application, CBS Interactive Business Network Bnet (November 23, 2010)

Legal Briefs / Opinions / Cases

 * Bilski v. Kappos, No. 08-964, 561 U.S. __ (2010).
 * In Re Bilski: Redhat's amicus curiae in support of affirmance, No. 08-964.
 * Guidance for Examining Process Claims in view of In re Bilski, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Memorandum (2009)
 * Lucent Technologies, Inc. v. Gateway, Inc, No. 08-1485 (Fed. Cir. Sep. 11, 2009).
 * i4i Ltd. v. Microsoft Corp., No. 07-00113 (E.D. Tex. Aug. 11, 2009).
 * Blackboard, Inc. v. Desire2Learn, Inc., Nos. 08-01368, 08-01396, 08-01548, (Fed. Cir. Jul. 27, 2009).
 * DealerTrack, Inc. v. Huber, No. 06-2335, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58125 (C.D. Cal. Jul 7, 2009).
 * LG Elecs., Inc. v. Hitachi Am. Ltd., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20457 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 13, 2009) (extending Quanta's holding by finding that exhaustion is triggered by authorized foreign sales as well as authorized sales in the United States).
 * In re Ferguson, 558 F.3d 1359 (Fed. Cir. 2009).
 * Ex parte Atkin, No. 08-4352 (BPAI 2009).
 * In re Comiskey, 554 F.3d 967 (Fed. Cir. 2009).
 * Ariz. Cartridge Remanufacturers Ass'n v. Lexmark Int'l, Inc., 421 F.3d 981 (9th Cir. 2005) (enforcing Lexmark's conditions on printer cartridge boxes limiting the post-sale use of its patented cartridge).
 * AT&T Corp. v. Excel Commc'ns, Inc., 172 F.3d 1352 (Fed. Cir. 1999).
 * State Street Bank & Trust v. Signature Fin. Servs., 149 F.3d 1368 (Fed. Cir. 1998).

Scholarship

 * John R. Allison, Mark A. Lemley & Joshua Walker, Extreme Value or Trolls on Top? The Characteristics of the Most Litigated Patents 158 U. Penn. L. Rev. 1 (Dec. 2009).
 * Pamela Samuelson, Are Patents on Interfaces Impeding Interoperability?, 93 Minn. L. Rev. 1943 (2009).
 * Andrew T. Dufresne, The Exhaustion Doctrine Revived? Assessing the Scope and Possible Effects of the Supreme Court's Quanta Decision, 24 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 11 (2009).