Spring 2012 Course Highlight: Procuring & Enforcing Business Method & Other Software-Based Patents After Bilski & BMC

PRG’s Spring 2012 Advanced Courses Program will be held from March 25-31, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa in Bonita Springs, Florida, and all courses have been updated to reflect the many impacts of AIA.  You still have time to sign up, but the registration deadline is March 2, 2012!

Software and business method patents are an important topic in the patent law field, and the America Invents Act impacts software patents in general and business method patents in particular.  The course highlighted today offers strategies for procuring, exploiting and enforcing software and business method patents, and it also explains how the America Invents Act affects these patents.  Read on to learn about the the essential course Procuring & Enforcing Business Method & Other Software-Based Patents After Bilski & BMC!

General Information: Procuring & Enforcing Business Method & Other Software-Based Patents

• Course Dates: March 29-31, 2012
• Course Times: 8:15-11:30; 1:30-4:45 (Thurs-Fri); 8:15-11:30 (Sat)
• Projected CLE: 15.0 hours (2.0 hours projected ethics credit)
• Instructors: Stuart Hemphill, Aldo Noto, and Devan Padmanabhan.

For more detailed information on the seminar, visit this page of the PRG website.

Why Should You Take This Course?

This is a critical time to get an important update on software patent law, given:

• The impact of the America Invents Act

• The need to understand the complex implications of the Bilski decisions.

• The decision finding no infringement when computer-based methods span borders (Research in Motion).

• The decision finding no infringement when multiple actors are involved in completing the infringement (Muniauction).

The America Invents Act impacts software patents in general and business method patents in particular.  Specifically, a new inter partes review proceeding is available during litigation for defendants to challenge certain business method patents at the USPTO on a wide variety of invalidity grounds.

Course Description

This course addresses the difficult and sophisticated task of how best to claim, prosecute, and litigate software-based inventions in their rich variety so as to have their patents held not invalid and infringed by the Federal Circuit. But that rich variety requires a variety of disparate claiming, specification drafting, prosecution, and litigating techniques.

 

The broad spectrum of available software patent protection opportunities that appeared available after State Street Bank and AT&T v. Excel was questioned in the Bilski decisions. Practitioners need to understand the signposts left by the Bilski decisions and their progeny.

 

Software-based inventions face another issue. Recent cases have suggested that infringement may be avoided when infringing activity crosses borders or multiple parties are involved in the acts or elements comprising infringement of a claim. The doctrine of “joint infringement” (a/ka “divided infringement”) as developed in BMC Resources, Inc. v. Paymentech, Muniauction Inc v. Thomson Corp. and other cases poses particular problems for proving infringement as more computer-based inventions use processors, storage and specialized data processing services of others, sometimes located in the “cloud”. Using resources in the “cloud” can involve multiple actors and jurisdictions. The course and text address why different software applications (e.g., Internet-related software) require special claim drafting, prosecution or litigation techniques. Claim styles and limitations designed to meet the somewhat unclear post-Bilski§101 standards are discussed. This course also explores the countercurrents arising from concern about the quality of some business method patents and from the open source movement.

 

Legal ethics in the context of duty of disclosure under 37 CFR §1.56 and USPTO conflict of interest issues will be presented from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. on the third day, as currently estimated.

 

Course Materials

The comprehensive text, written by its distinguished faculty, will be handed out at the course.

Registration, Hotel Information, FAQs, and Special Offers:

• If you’re interested in registering online for this Spring 2012 Advanced Course, visit this page on the PRG website!
• You can also view the Spring 2012 Advanced Courses Catalog, which includes a print registration form.
• Visit this page for more information on the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Bonita Spring, FL.
• Want general information on PRG’s Advanced Courses? Visit this FAQ page.
• And finally, learn about all the ways you can save through PRG’s Special Offers!