Wealth of Ideas, February 2012

Steve Jobs, the late CEO of Apple, pioneer of personal computing and legendary innovator who died last fall of complications from pancreatic cancer, is remembered for so much – most recently, his work with the iPhone and iPad. But there’s a lot more to Jobs’ legacy of innovation than meets the eye: He was a named inventor on over 300 design and utility patents.

This month, when Jobs would have turned 57, we take a look at his career and some of his memorable achievements and lesser-known career highlights.

2011 was chock-full of important IP headlines, what with the passage of the America Invents Act, record-breaking patent purchases by companies involved in the smartphone wars, Kodak’s attempts to sell its patents, and more. Now that it’s 2012, there are a few potentially important patent and trademark cases on the horizon. Let’s take a look at four of them.

Oracle America, Inc. v. Google Inc.

Wealth of Ideas, December 2011

The last few issues of Wealth of Ideas have dealt extensively with the passage of the America Invents Act and what it means for everyone involved with IP, so this month we take a look back at 2011.

Wealth of Ideas, November 2011

Last month, we gave a partial timetable of some of the changes that the America Invents Act will make to U.S. patent law as we know it, and when they take effect. In this month’s follow-up article, we’ll explore how the AIA is likely to affect the unique contingency patent enforcement business model that General Patent pioneered and has fine-tuned over the last 24 years.

Wealth of Ideas, October 2011

The America Invents Act: What changes now, and what changes down the road?

As we all know, the Senate passed the House version of the America Invents Act (AIA) on September 8 and President Obama signed it into law last Friday. Supporters claim the legislation is crucial to job growth.

Wealth of Ideas, August 2011

Should human genes be patentable? That was the issue at the core of the Myriad gene patent case which was initiated in part by the ACLU. A recent appeals court ruling seems to have turned the tide back in Myriad’s favor, but this case will very likely make it to the Supreme Court before it’s resolved.

A Brief Background of the Case

Wealth of Ideas Newsletter, July 2011

On June 23, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1249, their version of the America Invents Act. In March of this year, the Senate passed their version of the bill (S. 23). Now that both houses of Congress have approved a version of the same legislation, how do the two separate bills measure up? This month, we take a look at how the two versions are similar, how they’re different, and why opponents of the bill might still have a chance to slow its adoption.

This summer, the big news in IP is a patent enforcement campaign centered on an upgrade feature in the apps used in the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. It’s nothing new for Apple to be sued. What makes this legal battle different is that it wasn’t Apple itself, but rather the independent iOS app developers, who were targeted as infringers.

Lodsys and Its Patent