Federal Circuit Holds Yellow Bean Patent Obvious and Invalid By Dmitriy Tishyevich – Edited by Jad Mills In re POD-NERS, L.L.C., July 10, 2009, No. 2008-1492 (nonprecedential) Slip Opinion On July 10, 2009 in a per curium decision, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (“Board”) decision invalidating the patent claims for a yellow bean of Mexican origin. The court held that the applicant failed ... Read More...

By Tyler Lacey Law Enforcement Using Cell Phone Data During Investigations, Privacy Laws Yet to Catch Up On July 5, The New York Times posted an analysis of the use of cell phone forensics by law enforcement. According to the article, major cell phone service providers receive hundreds of requests each month from law enforcement agencies for data that can be used to track a user’s cell phone. Many of these requests are not backed by search warrants that require ... Read More...