By Michelle Berger

Congressional Bills: Heading Down the Series of Tubes Near You?

On October 2, The Washington Post reported that the recent proposed health care legislation has re-sparked debate over openness and online information availability in Congress.  A group of 180 members of Congress have signed a petition to require that all bills be placed online for at least 72 hours before voting.  Advocates say this would allow greater government transparency and give legislators time to actually read the bills before voting.  Opponents maintain that 72 hours online won’t make the bills more accessible to citizens or legislators due to the dense legalese, and they also point out that many bills are already posted online 48 hours in advance.

Don’t lol – Cyberbullying is No Joke in Congress

On September 30, the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony concerning two bills aimed at combating cyberbullying. One bill, the Megan Meier Cyber Bullying Prevention Act, would criminalize cyberbullying, while the other, the Adolescent Web Awareness Requires Education (“AWARE”) Act would provide funding to schools to teach children about cybercrime, including awareness about cyberbullying.  Ars Technica explains that experts at the hearing expressed concerns that the language of the Megan Meier Act would create free speech concerns and be hard to police, though they generally agreed that the AWARE Act took steps in the right direction to combat cyberbullying conduct.

No Pictures Please: Cameras Prohibited in Seventh Circuit Courtrooms

The Wall Street Journal Blog details the order issued by Judge Easterbrook of the Seventh Circuit on September 28th, censuring an Illinois district court judge for allowing the filming of a trial in his courtroom.  Easterbrook explained that the allowance violated policies established by both the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Judicial Conference of the Seventh Circuit, with little elaboration.  The Illinois judge responded apologetically, explaining that he thought he could make an exception to the policies due to the public interest at issue in the case.

Public Accessibility Prior to Patent
By Stuart K. Tubis – Edited by Caity Ross

In re Lister, No. 2009-1060 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 22, 2009)
Slip Op.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, siding with Dr. Lister, vacated and remanded the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences decision, which had affirmed an examiner’s rejection of Dr. Lister’s patent application under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b).

The Federal Circuit held that the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences erred in affirming the patent examiner’s rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b). In so holding, the court determined that “persons interested and ordinarily skilled in the subject matter or art exercising reasonable diligence” could have located the disputed reference by using either the Westlaw or Dialog commercial databases, which permit keyword searches of reference titles. The court found that this provided sufficient support for a finding of public accessibility under § 102(b).  However, the court also found insufficient evidence that the reference “was in fact included in either Westlaw or Dialog prior to the critical date” of one year before application for patent, as required under § 102(b).

Patentcastle, Patently-O, and Patent Prospector provide overviews of the case, including some historical background. (more…)

By Sharona Hakimi

EU Court Advisor Supports Google Keyword Searches in Trademark Suit

On September 22, Reuters reported that an advocate general to the European Court of Justice, the EU’s highest court, stated that Google did not infringe trademark rights of luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton (LVMH). Google sells keywords that use the company’s trademarks, but Advocate General Poiares Maduro concluded that trademark protections do not extend to search advertising keywords because they are not considered a product sold to the public. ZDNet’s Richard Koman argues that this decision does not account for brand confusion arising from keyword searches, and demonstrates the court’s “misunderstanding of the Web as something tangential to ‘real’ commerce.” Although the Luxembourg-based court follows the opinions of its advocates general in most cases, the judges will give their final judgment at a later date.

Facebook Shuts Down Beacon Ad Software as Part of Lawsuit Settlement

Ars Technica reports that on September 18, Facebook announced it will shut down its controversial Beacon ad software as part of a settlement for a class-action privacy suit. The Beacon software, launched in November 2007, allowed off-Facebook activities to be published in users’ news feeds without their explicit consent. After over a year of legal disputes regarding the software, Facebook decided to settle with complaining users, agreeing to discontinue Beacon and offering $9.5 million to create a foundation that would “fund projects and initiatives that promote the cause of online privacy, safety, and security.” Facebook’s director of policy communications said that the company has “learned a great deal from the experience.” The settlement proposal still awaits a district court judge’s approval.

FCC Proposes Net Neutrality Rules for Internet Service Providers

The New York Times reports that on September 12, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission proposed new regulations regarding net neutrality for Internet service providers. The proposal would bar providers from blocking or slowing Internet traffic on the basis of content. Consumer advocates of the policy say networks should not be able to deter users from accessing lawful Internet content or applications by restricting bandwidth. Wired’s Dylan Tweeny warns that the proposed rules may be difficult to enforce, stifle overall service due to capacity limitations, and decrease innovation in a market that has flourished without government intervention. The rules will formally be proposed in an open FCC meeting in October.

The Federal Circuit Provides Protection to Medical Diagnostics
By Brittany Blueitt – Edited by Caity Ross

Prometheus Labs., Inc. v. Mayo Collaborative Servs., Case No. 2008-1403 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 16, 2009)

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) reversed the ruling of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California granting summary judgment of invalidity of U.S. Patents 6,355,623 (“the ’623 patent”) and 6,680,302 (“the ’302 patent”) under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

Circuit Judge Lourie delivered the opinion of the court, holding that patents claiming a method of treatment were drawn to patentable subject matter based on transformative administering and determining steps of the process. In so holding, the court noted that the “key issue for patentability” is “whether a claim is drawn to a fundamental principle or an application of a fundamental principle.” Prometheus Labs., Inc. v. Mayo Collaborative Servs., No. 2008-1403, slip op. at 8 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 16, 2009).

Patently O provides an overview of the case. Patent Docs features a thorough analysis of the decision. (more…)

Dear Readers -

Digest is back! Our site has been down the past 3 weeks due to a server crash, but thanks to our wonderful online editors, it is back up and running. We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience our downtime may have caused. We will be publishing all of the content we have produced during our time offline in the next couple of days.

Thank you for continuing to read the site – we look forward to a great Fall semester filled with the same quality of content you have come to expect.

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