News

Mar 20, 2019

By Stephen P. Scuderi On January 7, the USPTO published its new “2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance” (the 2019 PEG), which became “effective” on that same day. However, the 2019 PEG “applies to all applications, and to all patents resulting from applications, filed before, on or after January 7, 2019.” Therefore, the 2019…

Feb 21, 2019

By Annette I. Kahler Signed into law on October 11, 2018, the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act (MMA) reforms U.S. Copyright law in significant ways that will affect the licensing of digital music. Pursuant to pre-MMA copyright law, “mechanical” licenses for reproduction and distribution of musical works in phonorecords were obtained by licensees…

Feb 14, 2019

Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti (HRFM) has earned its place as one of the Top 10 Firms with the Best Allowance Rate by Juristat. With an 86.82 Alice Allowance Rate over a 3-year time period, HRFM has one of the 10 highest percentages of applications with one or more Alice rejections that were eventually allowed…

Jan 14, 2019

By Philip E. Hansen The start of a new year provides the opportunity for a highly subjective retrospective on 35 years of patent law — where we’ve been and where we might be going. Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas (1965-1969) was reputed to have said that a typical judge’s reaction to a patent is like…

Oct 03, 2018

HRFM Partner Honored by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit with the American Inns of the Court Top Professionalism Award New York, NY – Susan E. Farley of Niskayuna, New York, was honored by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on September 25, 2018, receiving the 2018…

Jun 12, 2018

By Wayne F. Reinke About five months have gone by since my last update on the state of patentable subject matter after the 2014 Alice Supreme Court decision and its progeny. A number of important developments have taken place during this time, mostly positive in the sense of rebalancing the outcomes Alice patentable subject matter…

Apr 30, 2018

April 30, 2018 – David P. Miranda, Esq. A company is about to introduce an innovative new smartphone and is engaged in negotiations to license a software platform for the new mobile devices. But the licensing negotiations fail, and the smartphone is about to go to market. If you’re Google, you include Oracle’s Java software…

Apr 23, 2018

By Wayne F. Reinke People around the world enjoy craft beers. IP attorneys do too, so much so that my firm, Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti (HRFM), sponsored a recent Brewers Association Craft Brewers Conference. You can’t help but admire the enthusiasm and dedication of craft brewers. The industry has been growing at a rapid…

Apr 19, 2018

By Wayne F. Reinke I have come across several smaller gaming companies that say they have never explored Intellectual Property (IP) protection. Typically, I respond with some examples of things they could be protecting. The reactions run the gamut from panic to interest to a glassy-eyed stare. This article will address the various types of…