Author Archives: Warren Woessner

Ex Parte Stone: The “Disappearing Doctor” Leaves a Medical Device Behind

I know that Fed. Cir. s 101 decisions are inherently more instructive than PTAB decisions, but PTAB (and district court) s. 101 decisions are like legal potato chips – if you sample one, you just can’t quit. For example, in … Continue reading

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PTO Releases Revised Guidance on Compliance with Mayo/Alice Rule

On April 19, the USPTO released a Memorandum from Robert Bahr, The Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, that summarized the support required for a finding if a claim directed to a judicial exception to s. 101 eligibility under Step … Continue reading

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PTO Proposes to Change Claim Construction Standard Used by PTAB

On May 9th, the USPTO released a short “Notice of proposed rulemaking” entitled “Changes to the Claim Construction Standard for Interpreting Claims in Trial Proceedings Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.”  In brief the Notice proposes to replace the broadest … Continue reading

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Ex Parte Buck: Can a Composition Claim be a Natural Phenomenon?

In a recent decision, Ex Parte Buck, Appeal no. 2017-005470 (PTAB, April 20, 2018), the Board affirmed the examiner’s ruling that a composition claim reciting two natural products was patent-ineligible as an attempt to claim a natural phenomenon: 7. A … Continue reading

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