The SIIA is delighted to introduce the newest member to join SIIA’s Software & Services Division, Neff Law Firm, a technology law firm specializing in international law, technology, intellectual property transactions, trademark.  more

Soon You Might Be Able to Vote on Google (Time) Google was awarded a patent that would allow it to build a voting interface that would accompany search results.  This voting feature could be used for entertainment shows, polls, elections, contests, and marketing, but only to “authenticated” users.

PTAB Not Such a Threat to Patents, Report Says (Big Law Business) According to a report released yesterday by the legal analytics firm Lex Machina, reactions to patent holder losses are overblown.  The report found that in the 2,700 decisions in the Board’s first three years in existence, patents survive the process 66 percent of the time. After Five Years of Conflict with Apple, some Samsung Phone Features are Banned (Ars Technica) Apple finally won its years-long patent battle with Samsung which will ban the sale of certain Samsung smartphones. Most of these phones are older models that are no longer sold anyways. Apple Tried to Kill More Patents Than Anyone Else, By Far (Fortune) A new report shows that Apple has filed more patent challenges than anyone else at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.  The report shows that as of September 2012, Apple filed 252 PTAB challenges. GM’s Newly Acquired Patent Could be a Problem for Uber (Wired) GM will be bri ...

Senate Judiciary to markup trade secrets, Judicial Redress Bills (Politico Pro) The Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled the Defend Trade Secrets Act and the Judicial Redress Act on its agenda for markup this week.  This bill would give companies the means to go after trade secret thieves in federal court.

Today, legislation is being introduced in the House and Senate that would weaken the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a long standing law that is critical to software and digital content companies to protect their networks and the intellectual property in their products and services.  The intent of the proposal is to reign in the possibly overzealous use of this statute by U.S. prosecutors in some recent cases, including the case that led to the tragic suicide of Aaron Swartz.  While the bill is well intended and seeks to address real concerns, the proper fix is to clarify the prosecutorial guidelines, not a wholesale rewriting and weakening of the underlying statute.