Industries

Technology & Software

 
 

Technology and software are ubiquitous in the modern world as it is difficult to find a device that does not include a processor that is executing software or firmware to accomplish its stated goals, regardless of whether that device is an automobile, a smartphone, a medical device or a coffee maker.  The firm’s understanding of software underlies the knowledge necessary to advise clients on all types of other technologies.

Software patents present a unique challenge in today’s legal environment related to the Supreme Court’s Alice decision regarding patentable subject matter under 35 USC § 101.  Our attorneys have worked closely with clients to extract the necessary information from inventors to ensure that our clients’ patents include the best possible information to withstand Section 101 rejections from the patent office or later litigation challenges. 

Our attorneys have expertise in operating system (OS) code and design including technology related to hardware and virtual machines.  This expertise includes distributed, cloud computing, embedded and real time operating systems.  The firm has drafted and prosecuted OS patents relating to hypervisors, system calls, virtual memory, spinlocks, etc.  The firm also has expertise related to code development tools such as integrated development environments (IDEs) including writing, compiling, linking, and debugging tools. 

The software field is dominated by individual software applications that are loaded on individual devices and cause those devices to perform specified operations. These operations may be related to artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, natural language processing, model training, neural network implementation, image processing and classification, etc. These operations may also relate to control of specific devices such as the braking for a car, an imaging procedure of an MRI, a brewing cycle of a coffee maker, etc. The firm has advised clients on all these examples and many other types of software applications.