The landscape of patents has changed significantly over the last decade. Software and the algorithms that comprise it, once unpatentable, is now a popular, and highly contested, subject of patents. The future of unlimited claims is uncertain with the pending 5/25 rule, and businesses are being forced to creatively apportion their inventions into multiple, related patents in order to ensure that their often complex innovative products are fully covered by patent law.

Significantly, in a potentially far-reaching decision on patent validity, the U.S. Supreme Court in KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc. held that the determination of whether the subject matter of a patent claim is obvious as an "expansive and flexible" legal inquiry, and that the Federal Circuit's test requiring a specific "teaching, motivation or suggestion" to combine prior art references (known as the TSM test) must not be applied rigidly. The decision in KSR will likely make it much easier to invalidate patents that provide insignificant improvements over the prior art. This decision is likely to empower the PTO and courts to invalidate patents that provide little contribution over the prior art.

Matlock Law Group attorneys help our clients navigate the very complex and rapidly changing landscape of patent law. We regard patents as the first line of protection for your intellectual property, but not the last. We can also help you to integrate copyright, trademark and trade dress protections, as well as draft rock-solid licensing agreements for your valuable patented assets.

• Technology Law and Intellectual Property
• IP and Patent Enforcement
• Trademarks and Trade Secrets
• Patent Portfolio Services