I had the honor of representing SIIA at the July 16-17, 2019 “International Conference on AI-Emerging Technologies and Intellectual Property – Connecting the Bits.”  Many thanks to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Israeli Patent Office, and the Israeli Innovation Authority.   My panel participation presentation on “AI and Regulation – The Broader Picture” can be found here.  During my remarks, I focused on trade agreement protections relevant to AI, protections for proprietary data, and explainability/auditability issues.  There were a few themes that struck me from the two days of conversations with colleagues.  First, participants did not contemplate omnibus AI legislation or regulation.  Second, intellectual property remains a key tool in incentivizing AI innovation.  Third, there are a number of interesting conversations about AI and patent law, some of which touch directly on SIIA a ...

In their landmark decision on May 22nd, the Supreme Court decided 8-0 in favor of TC Heartland over Kraft Foods Group, changing the dynamics of patent litigation across the country. In the case itself, Kraft sued TC Heartland, claiming that TC Heartland had infringed on Kraft’s patent for the low-calorie water sweetener, MiO.  The Court held that the defendant could only be sued in the state in which it was incorporated.  Earlier this week, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property held a hearing on the impact of the TC Heartland decision, and heard testimony that although the TC Heartland decision is helpful, it is not a panacea for litigation abuse.

Senate Easily Passes Trade Secrets Bill (The Hill) On Monday, the Senate passed  the Defend Trade Secrets Act on a 87-0 vote which would provide damages for U.S. companies affected by IP theft. Coalition of Artists, Music Groups Call for US Congress to Reform Digital Millenium Copyright Act (Tech Times) The Recording Industry Association of America is asking Congress to reform the DMCA. RIAA is claiming that parts of the law are “obsolete, dysfunctional, and harmful.” $85 million patent verdict, largest ever against Google, Wiped Out on Appeal (Ars Technica) An East Texas jury ordered Google to pay $85 million to a patent troll company called SimpleAir.  Since then, a panel of three judges from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal circuit held that Google did not actually infringe. ACA Seeks Help with Digital Millennium Copyright Act (Broadcasting & Cable) The American Cable Association filed comments with the Copyright Office regarding DMCA sa ...

Sharing Knowledge for a Price (New York Times) SIIA was featured in a spotlight of letters to the editor regarding free access to research journals papers.  The letter was in response to an article that ran in the Times titled, “Should All Research Papers Be Free?” Judge Delays Latest Apple v. Samsung Patent Trial (San Jose Mercury News) On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh decided to postpone a retrial on damages questions in the infamous 2012 Apple v. Samsung patent case. New York Senator Proposes Tax Credit for Open-Source Developers (The Register) A New York Senate Bill would allow open-source programmers to reclaim twenty percent of the out-of-pocket cost of building and sharing open-source code.  However, the rebate only allows for a maximum annual benefit of $200 per person. Reps. Renew Effort to Troll for ‘Patent Trolls’ (Broadcasting & Cable) Reps. Tony Cardenas and Blake Farenthold introduced a bipartisan bill called the ...

Apple Tells Supreme Court it Shouldn’t Bother Hearing Samsung’s Appeal (Re/Code) Apple filed arguments to the Supreme Court yesterday telling them that there is no reason for it to take up Samsung’s appeal in its seemingly endless patent dispute with Samsung.  Google and Facebook also filed arguments on the side of Samsung encouraging the Supreme Court to hear the appeal. Wall Street is Trying to Beat Silicon Valley at Its Own Game (Bloomberg BNA) Banks and Payments companies were awarded 1,192 patents over the past three years, a 36 percent increase over the previous three year period.  Financial institutions have been seeking to patent technologies related to financial services. Nvidia Wins Trial Brought by Samsung over Memory-Chip Patent (eWeek) Nvidia won a patent trial from Samsung over memory chip technology.  The complaint was filed in November 2014 as retaliation against Nvidia for an earlier suit Nvidia filed against Samsung regarding ...

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 ...

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