By Pio Szamel

En Banc Federal Circuit Hears Arguments on Scope of Software Patents

On Friday, February 8, the en banc Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard arguments in CLS Bank v. Alice Corp., in which the court will consider when patent claims with software elements should be rejected as unpatentable “abstract ideas.” Patently-O discusses the different rules proposed by the parties and the government, while Techdirt relays one audience member’s opinion that based on the argument it could be “a 5 judge to 5 judge tie,” in which case the district court opinion finding the patents invalid would be upheld. JOLT Digest reported on the original, now vacated Federal Circuit decision back in July.

Economists at St. Louis Fed Publish Paper Arguing Patents Should Be Abolished

Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis advocate for the abolition of the patent system in a newly-published paper in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, reports The Huffington Post. The authors, Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine, argue that first-mover advantages and competitive pressures motivate most innovation, while a strong patent system discourages downstream innovation, imposes steep transaction costs, and enables rent-seeking. Boldrin and Levine acknowledge that a much-weaker patent system may be net-beneficial, but point out that incentives faced by key actors such as patent holders, lawyers, and the Patent Office ensure that as long as patents exist, the system will get ever more restrictive.

3D-Printed 30-Round Magazine Unveiled, Named After Andrew Cuomo

Three-dimensional printing and gun enthusiast project Defense Distributed has unveiled a 30-round 3D-printed magazine with a new design that can go through hundreds of rounds without jamming. The new magazine has been named the “Cuomo,” after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and in an interview with Talking Points Memo the group’s founder indicated it was intended as a response to the new New York law limiting magazine sizes passed in wake of the massacre in Newtown, Conn. Wired reports on the improvements the soon-to-be-freely-available design makes over previous attempts at 3D-printed magazines.