Publications


IEEE-USA Amicus Brief to the United States Supreme Court

Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, et al., 573 U.S. ___ (2014), Docket No. 13-298

Principal author, Section II, IEEE-USA Amicus Brief. Brief submitted Jan. 28, 2014. Section II explains foundational concepts of computer science, and fundamental connections between computing systems and physics.

Decided Jun. 19, 2014.  The Court agreed with main point of the IEEE Brief: that a computer programmed with software is a kind of tangible machine.  However, the Court stated that merely programming an abstract idea into a computer is not sufficient, on its own, to make the idea non-abstract.

Further, the Court introduced a surprising new category of abstract idea: human invention that has been in sufficiently widespread use for a sufficiently long period of time.  The new category was used to invalidate the particular invention in Alice.


Legal Authorship

“Software Patenting in Crisis,” Chip Design Magazine, Parts I, II, and III, posted Oct. 2013, Nov. 2013, and Feb. 2014.  Series of posts on the controversial decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in the case of CLS Bank Int’l, et al. v. Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd., 717 F.3d 1269 (Fed. Cir. 2013).

“Has Willful Infringement Been Tamed?,” Design Automation Conference eZine, July 2009.  The post is available here.

Founding member, 2000 to 2005, Board of Advisors for Patent Strategy & Management, a newsletter of American Lawyer Media.

“Viewpoint: Patent Disclosure Policy and Willful Infringement Doctrine,” Patent Strategy & Management, July 2003.

“Patent Litigation Insurance,” Patent Strategy & Management, January 2001.

“An Introduction to the Copyright Protection of the Chinese Regulations for Computer Software,” China Patents & Trademarks Quarterly, January 1993.


Lectures

Design Automation Conference, June 2010, Pavilion Panel Panelist, “IP Commercialization: Beyond the Code;” July 2009, Chair, Pavilion Panel: “IP at Risk: Protecting the Company Jewels.”

MIT, Department of EECS, Cambridge, MA, April 28, 2008.  Special Seminar on “Pursuing a Legal Career with an MIT Degree.”  Seminar was recorded, and is viewable below.

Patent Strategy & Management Conference, November 2-3, 2000, McLean, VA: “Patent Infringement and Validity Insurance.”


Technical Authorship

“Pass and Restoring Logic Technology Mapping,” MIT Master’s Thesis, 1989.

Architecture of a Message-Driven Processor,” IEEE-ACM 14th International Symposium on Computer Architecture, 1987.


MIT Special Seminar: