Bitcoin patent lawsuit supreme
Human Engineering Institute Inc. Savvy plaintiffs will surely test the contours of this statutory language in an effort to maintain venue in patent friendly jurisdictions where plaintiffs and defendants alike often have tenuous ties.
The ruling will also likely trigger a decrease in the number of cases filed in the Eastern District of Texas by NPEs, with the pendulum swinging back to increased filings in other districts, including the District of Delaware and the Northern District of California. The death knell of the Eastern District of Texas pronounced by many commentators will likely not prove true, as parties with a place of business in that district will still be subject to venue.
So the percentages of patent cases filed in the Eastern District of Texas will likely significantly decrease, but the district will remain a viable venue for patent litigation. For generic drug and biosimilar pharmaceutical patent litigation, TC Heartland will cause plaintiffs to deliberate carefully about jurisdiction, and in some cases, it may or may not curtail the available forums for litigation.
The unique posture of pharmaceutical litigation—where the defendant has not yet marketed or sold a product—presents a challenge to applying TC Heartland as a bright-line rule. Further, the reality of multiple pharmaceutical challenges occurring at approximately the same time will likely influence the choice of forum.
Although some drug manufacturers may have a preference to litigate in their state of incorporation, there is a recognition among the pharmaceutical patent bar that certain jurisdictions have specialized subject matter expertise in adjudicating and managing generic and biosimilar patent disputes.
As a result, defendants may not be inclined to shy away from litigating in the top courts for pharmaceutical patent cases such as the District Courts of Delaware and New Jersey. Patentees in pharmaceutical cases can also be proactive by discussing venue considerations with alleged infringers before suits are brought.
For example, the unique nature of the day evaluation period in generic drug cases makes this possible. Further, for existing actions where venue is challenged in light of TC Heartland and has not been waived, plaintiffs should evaluate whether transfer is a viable option as opposed to dismissal. In both the technology and pharmaceutical sectors, concurrent litigation involving the same patents but parties in different jurisdictions is likely to increase. Parties may seek to avail themselves of the Multidistrict Litigation process, as one way to handle large, multi-party and multi-jurisdiction litigations that involve common questions of law and fact.
The MDL process allows multiple cases to be consolidated and transferred to a single judge for pretrial proceedings, including discovery, claim construction, and pretrial motions. Upon completion of the pretrial proceedings, the individual cases are referred back to their court of origin for trial or for any proceedings carved out of the MDL process.
Finally, TC Heartland may be just the first but not the last step in venue reform this year. Due May 31, Spotlight on France Rebranding Strategy: Macron Ordinances Reshape the Rules of Termination.
Lowering the Bar on Tender Offer Claims: Relevant Aspects for Energy Operators. Key Takeaways from the Vanda v. Important novelties on inspection and sanction procedures related to the incentive regime. Recommendations from the Bank of Italy. Italian Finance Law The Life Sciences Enforcement Zeitgeist: Will German Companies Withstand the Scrutiny?
A Tale of Two Governments: What Employers Need to Know. Ready for the Enforcement Spotlight? Visual Memory LLC v. Partnership Interest Not Subject to U. Blockchain is a widely distributed and shared ledger system which provides transparency, security, history, and lower cost transactions. Blockchain has potential in fields outside financial institutions. Blockchain can be utilized anywhere a smart contract is required or more intelligent transactions are needed.
Companies everywhere are rewriting their software to change their transactional processing over to Blockchain or related technologies.
Blockchain can be used for something as simple as autographs. Imagine confirming the authenticity of that baseball you got signed through actual photos stored permanently in the Blockchain. Provenance and ownership can be proven as well. Music artists are signing on with companies that will utilize Blockchain technologies to prove ownership to digital music files people download.
These systems also help track royalties and allow for transferring ownership. Blockchain is pervading all parts of our society, from video game content to the government using Blockchain to track marijuana grown. Software has already been tested that electronically through Blockchain processes a real estate transaction in minutes vs. There is a reason there is all of the hype surrounding the work blockchain, it is a very disruptive technology and everyone wants on the bandwagon.
Gone are the days where people thought BitCoin technology was just used to buy drugs or do other nefarious things on the Dark Web. The patent is based on a blockchain like ledger that would be widely available to store and manage international transactions in an instant.
Bank of America has dozens of blockchain and bitcoin type related patent applications. Every major financial institution has become involved in blockchain technology and intellectual property rights to protect their innovations.
Though patent applications are already proliferating, the immediate question is whether or not the Blockchain can be patented. In a US Supreme Court decision: Accordingly, a patent application that takes existing blockchain technology and comes up with a new use may be rejected.
As an example, in August , JPMorgan Chase another company with a CEO who slammed BitCoin filed an application for an electronic mobile payment system with similarities to Bitcoin; however, all claims were either canceled or rejected. By contrast, an application that improves the technological functioning or processes of a computer itself—such as improving efficiency or security—may be eligible. It appears, that the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is attempting to draw the line for computer-implemented inventions.
The blockchain technology has created a whole new playing field, and the game could yet be very hard-fought. It remains to be seen whether this becomes a winner-takes-all race and how the issue of standards for the technology will be managed. The following graph shows the number of related patents applied for by country and by year.
Though the US leads the way, China has had a significant uptick in the number of patents filed in the last few years. Since patent applications are costly, this upwards trend would indicate that the assignees are placing a very high importance on the market.
As mentioned, blockchain applications can be used for IP like artwork and digital music files. The blockchain is critical to securing IP because it guarantees the validity of a transaction by recording it on a main centralized register as well as a publicly distributed system of connected registers. The transactions are also timestamped and provide history. Since this data is public and distributed everywhere, the transactions are transparent and can not be corrupted or modified.
A hacker could not just hack one ledger, he would have to hack every computer keeping a ledger in the world, something not easily done and that would be transparent as it was happening. Likewise, information can not be lost because every computer with the ledger in the world would have to go down.
Thus, the information cannot be lost or changed. Blockchain technology will be increasingly used to register IP rights, and to store and catalog original works. The transparency of the system allows any third party to view the chain of ownership and see any assignments or licenses associated.
The digital currencies attached to blockchain technology also allow for a method of collecting and distributing revenue to those with intellectual property. Some examples include sports celebrities and stars — their primary IP is their likeness and name.
Not only can they sell their IP through the blockchain, they can monetize blockchain based securities through celebrity endorsements. As an example, Floyd Mayweather was the first paid celebrity digital currency sports endorser for Stox.