Technology

Expert Analysis

• How Courts Treat USPTO Subject Matter Eligibility Guidelines

  

  Patentees in district courts have argued patent eligibility based on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office subject matter eligibility guidelines, with mixed success. A Virginia federal court's recent decision in Cleveland Clinic v. True Health is the first to address a patent that issued, in part, based on the guidelines, say attorneys with Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox PLLC.

• Telehealth: A Priority For Advancing Quality Health Care

  

  Following its August recess, Congress will have less than four weeks to work through must-pass legislation that would fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Amid this hard-stop deadline for program funding, there is a possibility that this legislation could lend itself as a vehicle to attach other party priorities, such as expansion of telehealth services for Medicaid beneficiaries, say attorneys with Faegre Baker Daniels.

• An Update On The Apple-Samsung Damages Saga

  

  Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed a jury verdict that awarded Apple nearly $400 million in damages from Samsung. Now a California federal court has an opportunity to provide important guidance on the meaning of the Supreme Court’s decision, says Joshua Wolson of Dilworth Paxson LLP.

• Managing Consumer Expectations For Autonomous Vehicles

  

  As consumers begin to sit in the driver’s seat of automated and autonomous vehicles, manufacturers and sellers have a golden opportunity to educate consumers on the benefits and risks of those vehicles and to shape their expectations, says Charles Moellenberg Jr. of Jones Day.

• New Considerations For Patent Counsel In The Startup World

  

  The goal of many small companies now is to grow to the point of acquisition, instead of or in addition to working to become long-term sustaining businesses. With this change comes a shift in intellectual property advising to drive a startup’s valuation at the fundraising and exit stages, says Justin Nifong, co-founder of NK Patent Law PLLC.

• Self-Collection In E-Discovery — Risks Vs. Rewards

  

  As judges become better educated about the complexities of collecting electronically stored information, in particular the inefficacy of keyword searching, they are increasingly skeptical of self-collection. And yet, for many good reasons (and a few bad ones), custodian self-collection is still prevalent in cases of all sizes and in all jurisdictions, says Alex Khoury of Balch & Bingham LLP.

• How Insurers Can Respond To Disruptive Technology

  

  In an age where technology is poised to disrupt the existing landscape, insurers who embrace the changes and turn them into opportunities will thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace, say Huhnsik Chung and Christina Cerutti of Baker McKenzie.

• 6 Common Lateral Partner Myths Debunked

  

  It’s safe to say that while demand ebbs and flows for legal services, there will never be a shortage of opinions about lateral partner hiring, which is positive for the industry, as anything with such vital importance to careers should attract significant attention. However, there is a unique mythology that travels with the discussions, says Dan Hatch of Major Lindsey & Africa.

• 4 Ways Law Firms Can Help Battle Addiction

  

  With more than a third of lawyers showing signs of problem drinking, and untold others abusing prescription drugs and other substances, it is time for law firms to be more proactive in addressing this issue, says Link Christin, executive director of the Legal Professionals Program at Caron Treatment Centers.

• Panel-Dependent Fed. Circ. Decisions For 101 Challenges?

  

  Last week, a divided panel at the Federal Circuit applied an analytical framework in Visual Memory v. Nvidia that appears to be inconsistent with the framework applied in a number of previous Federal Circuit decisions on Section 101 motions at the Rule 12(b)(6) stage, say attorneys with Paul Hastings LLP.