Expert Analysis

• How 'Markedly Different' Test Shapes Patent Eligibility Debate

  

  Following last month's U.S. Senate hearing on the proposed Patent Eligibility Restoration Act, it is important to examine how courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have applied the 46-year-old "markedly different characteristics" framework to determine eligibility of composition-of-matter claims, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• Fed. Circ.'s Shaping Of Tech Patent Doctrine Resembles EPO's

  

  The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Ceiva v. Amazon crystallizes an informal U.S. heuristic, "a technological solution to a technological problem," rewarding emphasis of a traceable chain from a problem to a solution — a lesson similar to the European Patent Office's "technical character" terminology, says Brandon Theiss at AddyHart.

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  Being A Sommelier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Being a sommelier has quietly shaped how I practice law by changing the way I think, communicate and connect with people, and offers a constant reminder that expertise is about making your knowledge useful and accessible to others, says Kara Du at Sheppard.

• MF Doom IP Suit Highlights Hurdles For Trademark Claims

  

  A recent lawsuit involving unauthorized merchandise bearing MF Doom's name and likeness is likely a preview of how infringement and counterfeit cases against online marketplaces will be defended going forward, shedding light on how intellectual property counsel can avoid dismissal of their claims, say Purdue Global Law School professor Scott Mortman and Southwestern Law School student Eden Burkow.

• 3 Private Suits Test Influencer Ads As FTC Stays On Sidelines

  

  Three lawsuits filed so far this year illustrate how influencer campaigns are facing growing scrutiny from private plaintiffs, despite the Federal Trade Commission not bringing an influencer marketing enforcement action since revising its endorsement guides to address the topic in 2023, but brands can take concrete steps to reduce the risks, says Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye.

• Navigating Court Divergence On Method Claims And Venue

  

  After the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Hikma v. Amarin decision putting a spotlight on the pleading standard for inducement, patent litigants must adapt to courts' differing approaches to how separate method steps affect the determination of patent venue validity, say attorneys at Weil.

• CIPA Tech Tracking Suits Highlight Uncertain Legal Ground

  

  Alexandra Samofalova at Spencer Fane discusses the state of California Invasion of Privacy Act website tracking litigation, why credible defendants choose to settle and how the businesses best positioned to face this uncertain legal landscape are the ones treating data practices as a legal compliance matter to address today.

• Fed. Circ. In June: When Courts Can't Correct Patent Errors

  

  The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Enanta v. Pfizer explores and clarifies the limits of what can be corrected in a patent application, even if the error is obvious, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

• Patent Eligibility Bulletin: New USPTO Guidance And AI Risks

  

  In the second quarter of 2026, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office updated its subject matter eligibility declarations in line with its increasingly permissive patent eligibility stance, while the Federal Circuit rigorously applied the Alice framework in a decision that highlighted risks facing patent claims that utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning, say attorneys at Banner Witcoff.

• At The Intersection Of Right-To-Repair Laws And IP Rights

  

  Right-to-repair legislation passing through Congress highlights a broad tension between manufacturers' security measures and consumer autonomy, with important repercussions for the automotive industry's intellectual property rights, says Keith Noe at Lando & Anastasi. 

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  Teaching SEC Investigations Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Instructing a law school course on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations has made me a more thoughtful, deliberate practitioner because it requires me to continually reassess and challenge what I know about securities law enforcement, how I know it and how best to explain it, says David Chase at Miami Law.

• Patent Eligibility Reforms Keep Chasing The Wrong Fixes

  

  Repeated efforts to create a consistent, predictable patent eligibility standard under Section 101 have centered on replacing judge-made exceptions with new statutory language, but the better fix is to align examination standards with how courts actually apply eligibility doctrine, says former Patent Trial and Appeal Board judge Amee Shah.

• How High Court Pepsi Case Could Brew TM Strategy Shift

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's forthcoming decision in RiseandShine v. PepsiCo will determine whether a judge or jury decides trademark strength in infringement disputes, which could meaningfully change early-stage motion practice, discovery and what evidence is needed to prove a mark is strong, says Rachel Scobie at Merchant & Gould.

• Discovery Ruling Shows How Extant Rules Mesh With AI Tools

  

  A California federal court’s recent ruling in Schulte v. LinkedIn reinforces that existing discovery rules can and should accommodate emerging artificial intelligence technologies, providing litigants with confidence that well-designed AI-enabled workflows can satisfy reasonableness and proportionality standards, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• Protecting Biotech Innovation In The Platform Knowledge Era

  

  Following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent shift toward leveraging prior and platform knowledge in biotechnology, companies should protect their innovations by guarding against obviousness challenges and treating the entire development pipeline as a source of patentable innovation, says Aisha Hasan at Barnes & Thornburg.