NEW & NOTEWORTHY
• Court Limits 'Business Method' Patents
• FCC Chairman Cancels Vote on Telecom Overhaul
• FCC to Probe Pricing Policies of Cable, Verizon
• MySpace Ad Deal Lets Members Use Copyright Video
• Report: Google, Yahoo Make Concessions on Ad Deal
• Google's Growth Makes Privacy Advocates Wary
• Disney Infringed 'Talking Poster' Patent, Inventor Says
• How Infringing Is That Doggie Greeting Card in the Window?
• NYC residents: Use Your Mouse to Track Rats Online
WORLD BEAT
• SKorea: Microsoft Plans $60 Million Investment
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
• FCC OKs Use of White Spaces to Deliver Broadband
• AT&T to Try Limits on Monthly Internet Traffic
• FCC approves Verizon Wireless' Purchase of Alltel
• Sprint, Clearwire Broadband Deal Gets FCC Approval
• Netflix, TiVo Team up after 4-Year Courtship
• Prospective Employees Inadvertently Open Their Kimonos to Employers On Social Networking Sites
RECENT CASE SUMMARIES
• In Re Bilski
• In Re DBC
• In Re Alonso
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NEW & NOTEWORTHY:
COURT LIMITS 'BUSINESS METHOD' PATENTS
(AP) - A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled against a man trying to patent a business idea, a decision with far-ranging implications for the financial services and high-tech industries, which have major players on both sides of the issue. Read more...
Related Resources
• The Fed Circuit Opinion
FCC CHAIRMAN CANCELS VOTE ON TELECOM OVERHAUL
(AP) - The head of the Federal Communications Commission has canceled a controversial Election Day vote on a proposed overhaul of telecommunications regulations that many consumer advocates feared would lead to higher phone bills. Read more...
Related Resources
• Joint Statement of Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, Tate and McDowell
• FCC Chairman Martin’s Statement
FCC TO PROBE PRICING POLICIES OF CABLE, VERIZON
(AP) - The Federal Communications Commission has opened an investigation into the pricing policies of major cable operators and Verizon Communications Inc. Read more...
Related Resources
• FindLaw’s Communications Center
MYSPACE AD DEAL LETS MEMBERS USE COPYRIGHT VIDEO
(AP) - Instead of trying to take down all copyright-protected videos that its members post, MySpace will let certain clips stay - and give the creators of the original content a cut of the revenue from advertising that will be attached to the snippets. Read more...
Related Resources
• Auditude Audio/Video Fingerprinting Technology to be Used
REPORT: GOOGLE, YAHOO MAKE CONCESSIONS ON AD DEAL
(AP) - Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. have submitted a list of concessions that would deflate their proposed Internet advertising partnership to appease antitrust regulators threatening to block the alliance, according to a report published Monday. Read more...
Related Resources
• Review Recent Antitrust Decisions
GOOGLE'S GROWTH MAKES PRIVACY ADVOCATES WARY
(AP) - Perhaps the biggest threat to Google Inc.'s increasing dominance of Internet search and advertising is the rising fear, justified or not, that Google's broadening reach is giving it unchecked power. Read more...
Related Resources
• Google’s Privacy Center
• FindLaw’s Networking and Storage Center
DISNEY INFRINGED 'TALKING POSTER' PATENT, INVENTOR SAYS
(Andrews) - An inventor who says he created "talking" posters has filed a patent infringement suit against Walt Disney Co. and several toy companies that distribute posters of teen stars Hannah Montana and the Cheetah Girls. Read more...
Related Resources
• The Talking Poster Patent
HOW INFRINGING IS THAT DOGGIE GREETING CARD IN THE WINDOW?
(Andrews) - A California company that makes edible greeting cards for pets says a Wisconsin business is infringing its patent. Read more...
Related Resources
• The Edible Pet Card Patent
NYC RESIDENTS: USE YOUR MOUSE TO TRACK RATS ONLINE
(AP) - The city wants to make sure rats have no place to hide, at least online. A Rat Information Portal, complete with a searchable map of rat inspections and violations, debuted Thursday on the city's Web site. Read more...
Related Resources
• RIP’s Map of New York Rats
WORLD BEAT:
SKOREA: MICROSOFT PLANS $60 MILLION INVESTMENT
(AP) - Microsoft Corp. plans to invest $60 million in South Korea over the next three years, President Lee Myung-bak's office said Monday. Read more...
OPEN FOR BUSINESS:
FCC OKS USE OF WHITE SPACES TO DELIVER BROADBAND
(AP) - The Federal Communications Commission voted Tuesday to open up unused, unlicensed portions of the television airwaves known as "white spaces" to deliver wireless broadband service. Read more...
Related Resources
• FCC Statement
• FindLaw’s Communications Center
AT&T TO TRY LIMITS ON MONTHLY INTERNET TRAFFIC
(AP) - AT&T Inc., the country's largest Internet service provider, is testing the idea of limiting the amount of data that subscribers can use each month. Read more...
Related Resources
• FindLaw’s Communications Center
FCC APPROVES VERIZON WIRELESS' PURCHASE OF ALLTEL
(AP) - Federal regulators are signing off on Verizon Wireless' planned $28 billion purchase of Alltel Corp. The deal will create the nation's largest wireless carrier. Read more...
Related Resources
• FCC Statement
SPRINT, CLEARWIRE BROADBAND DEAL GETS FCC APPROVAL
(AP) - Federal regulators are giving Sprint Nextel Corp. the green light to spin off and merge its new WiMax wireless broadband network with that of Clearwire Corp. Read more...
Related Resources
• FCC Statement
• Find a Communications Computing and Science Expert Witness
NETFLIX, TIVO TEAM UP AFTER 4-YEAR COURTSHIP
(AP) - Home entertainment trendsetters Netflix Inc. and TiVo Inc. are finally joining forces to deliver more movies and old TV episodes to their mutual subscribers, consummating a relationship that was supposed to come together four years ago. Read more...
PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES INADVERTENTLY OPEN THEIR KIMONOS TO EMPLOYERS ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
(Eric Sinrod) - George Orwell, in his book 1984, envisioned a world in which Big Brother, the omnipresent government, watched our every move. In Orwell's world, notions of privacy were all but gone. Fast forward: now were are in the later year of 2008. And while privacy as we once knew it may be vanishing, that is not necessarily only happening at the hands of government. Indeed, access to very personal information now is at the fingertips of private employers. Read more...
Related Resources
• Legal Issues for Social Networking Sites and Users
RECENT CASE SUMMARIES:
IN RE BILSKI
(Fed. Cir.) - In an appeal of the rejection of a patent application for a claimed method of hedging risk in commodities trading, a Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences decision sustaining the rejection is affirmed by the court sitting en banc where: 1) a claimed process is patent-eligible if it is either tied to a particular machine or apparatus, or it transforms a particular article into a different state or thing; and 2) applicants' proposed process was neither tied to a particular machine nor transformative of any physical article, and was therefore not eligible for patent protection. Read more...
IN RE DBC
(Fed. Cir.) - In an appeal from the reexamination of a patent describing a "nutraceutical" composition prepared from the mangosteen fruit, rejection of all pending claims for obviousness is affirmed where: 1) the board established a prima facie case of obviousness based on the prior art; 2) appellant presented insufficient evidence to rebut the prima facie case; and 3) appellant waived its argument regarding the constitutionality of the appointment of administrative patent judges by not raising it before the board. Read more...
IN RE ALONSO
(Fed. Cir.) - In an appeal of the rejection of one claim of applicant's proposed patent for a method of treating certain cancers with human monoclonal antibodies, the rejection is affirmed where substantial evidence supported a finding that the claim lacked an adequate written description of the relevant genus of antibodies. Read more...
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