The U.S. patent system is not entirely broken, but reforms beyond the America Invents Act (AIA) are needed to fix issues the system continues to face, a group of current and former federal judges said Tuesday at an event sponsored by the Federalist Society and George Mason University School of Law’s Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property. The judges credited AIA, which Congress passed in 2011, with helping improve conditions at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

The U.S. patent system is not entirely broken, but reforms beyond the America Invents Act (AIA) are needed to fix issues the system continues to face, a group of current and former federal judges said Tuesday at an event sponsored by the Federalist Society and George Mason University School of Law’s Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property. The judges credited AIA, which Congress passed in 2011, with helping improve conditions at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that Alice Corp. can’t claim four of its patents on a computerized currency trading platform because they're too abstract. Friday’s ruling prevents that trading risk management and investment firm from suing CLS Bank International for patent infringement. Alice had argued that even if the four patents in question were based on abstract ideas, they could still be patentable because of the computer’s role in the invention (http://1.usa.gov/Yz3Yjh). Multiple companies filed amicus briefs in the case. A Google-led group including Dell, Facebook, HomeAway, Intuit, Rackspace, Red Hat and Zynga had said software patent standards were too low. BSA/The Software Alliance said the court shouldn’t limit protections on software patents because software plays a “critical role” in the U.S. economy. The court was divided in the ruling, with five of the nine judges issuing opinions that partially or fully dissented from the majority opinion. Judge Kimberly Moore wrote in a partial dissent that she was concerned the ruling could mean the “death of hundreds of thousands of patents, including all business method, financial system, and software patents as well as many computer implemented and telecommunications patents.” Adam Perlman, a partner with the law firm of Williams & Connolly who represented Alice, said his client had no comment. A CLS Bank spokesman said the company was pleased with the ruling, which “strikes an appropriate balance between innovation and competition, and allows CLS Bank to continue its important operations."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that Alice Corp. can’t claim four of its patents on a computerized currency trading platform because they're too abstract. Friday’s ruling prevents that trading risk management and investment firm from suing CLS Bank International for patent infringement. Alice had argued that even if the four patents in question were based on abstract ideas, they could still be patentable because of the computer’s role in the invention (http://1.usa.gov/Yz3Yjh). Multiple companies filed amicus briefs in the case. A Google-led group including Dell, Facebook, HomeAway, Intuit, Rackspace, Red Hat and Zynga had said software patent standards were too low. BSA/The Software Alliance said the court shouldn’t limit protections on software patents because software plays a “critical role” in the U.S. economy. The court was divided in the ruling, with five of the nine judges issuing opinions that partially or fully dissented from the majority opinion. Judge Kimberly Moore wrote in a partial dissent that she was concerned the ruling could mean the “death of hundreds of thousands of patents, including all business method, financial system, and software patents as well as many computer implemented and telecommunications patents.” Adam Perlman, a partner with the law firm of Williams & Connolly who represented Alice, said his client had no comment. A CLS Bank spokesman said the company was pleased with the ruling, which “strikes an appropriate balance between innovation and competition, and allows CLS Bank to continue its important operations."

The Court of International Trade vacated its August judgment against Nan Ya Plastics’ claim for funds under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA, also known as the Byrd Amendment) (see 12071601). The court will now allow Nan Ya to file an amended complaint, in light of the Appeals Court’s July 2012 ruling in PS Chez Sidney v. International Trade Commission (see 12071604).

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 6-10 in case they were missed.

CBP is beginning work on implementation of online bulletin notices of liquidation, and the elimination of posting at the customhouse, the agency said. The move is long-overdue and would make keeping up with liquidation easier for importers and service providers, said industry lawyers. The idea, which was suggested by a CBP Branch Chief, was one of four finalists for the government’s Securing Americans Value and Efficiency (SAVE) award. CBP has formed an implementation team that includes the official that came forward with the idea, said an agency spokeswoman.

Most Disney divisions “appear to be heading in the right long-term direction,” including Disney Interactive and Studio Entertainment, Nomura Securities analyst Michael Nathanson said Wednesday, after the company reported stronger results for Q2 ended March 30 than in Q2 a year ago. Broadcasting “remains an area of concern but only represents” 7 percent of total company segment profits, he said. Despite improved results at Disney Interactive, that division likely won’t be able to achieve profitability or even “break-even” status this year due to the delay of the Disney Infinity game initiative, CEO Robert Iger said on an earnings call after regular U.S. trading Tuesday. Q2 Disney profit grew to $1.5 billion from $1.1 billion. Total revenue grew to $10.6 billion from $9.6 billion. Disney expects an operating loss in Disney Interactive for Q3 that’s “comparable to” the Q2 loss, said Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo, “due primarily to the shifting” of the release date of Infinity from Q3 to Q4. Like Activision’s popular Skylanders franchise, Infinity combines videogames with collectible toy characters that are used in conjunction with the title. In the case of Infinity, the toys are based on Disney characters that get placed on a base unit to be used with the game that is being released for multiple platforms. The market for the rental and sale of DVD and Blu-ray titles remains a “challenged business,” Iger also said. But the home entertainment business has been “growing nicely on the digital front and I think that bodes well for the future,” he said. Q2 home entertainment revenue was “essentially flat,” as a 4 percent decrease due to lower unit sales was “offset” by a 3 percent increase from higher pricing, Disney said in the 10-Q filing. The increase in pricing reflected a higher sales mix of new releases, which have higher prices than catalog titles, in Q2 this time, it said. “Significant” Q2 home entertainment titles included Wreck-It Ralph, Lincoln and the Peter Pan “Diamond Release,” it said. Q2 Studio Entertainment revenue grew to $1.3 billion from $1.2 billion and swung to a $118 million operating profit from an $84 million operating loss, due in part to the theatrical movies Oz The Great and Powerful and Wreck-It Ralph performing much better than John Carter a year ago, said Disney. Media Networks revenue grew to $5 billion from $4.7 billion, with operating profit growing to $1.9 billion from $1.7 billion. Within that division, broadcast revenue was about flat at $1.5 billion and operating profit tumbled to $138 million from $229 million, but cable networks revenue grew to $3.5 billion from $3.2 billion and operating profit increased to $1.7 billion from $1.5 billion.

Most Disney divisions “appear to be heading in the right long-term direction,” including Disney Interactive and Studio Entertainment, Nomura Securities analyst Michael Nathanson said Wednesday, after the company reported stronger results for Q2 ended March 30 than in Q2 a year ago. Broadcasting “remains an area of concern but only represents” 7 percent of total company segment profits, he said. Despite improved results at Disney Interactive, that division likely won’t be able to achieve profitability or even “break-even” status this year due to the delay of the Disney Infinity game initiative, CEO Robert Iger said on an earnings call after regular U.S. trading Tuesday. Q2 Disney profit grew to $1.5 billion from $1.1 billion. Total revenue grew to $10.6 billion from $9.6 billion. Disney expects an operating loss in Disney Interactive for Q3 that’s “comparable to” the Q2 loss, said Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo, “due primarily to the shifting” of the release date of Infinity from Q3 to Q4. Like Activision’s popular Skylanders franchise, Infinity combines videogames with collectible toy characters that are used in conjunction with the title. In the case of Infinity, the toys are based on Disney characters that get placed on a base unit to be used with the game that is being released for multiple platforms. The market for the rental and sale of DVD and Blu-ray titles remains a “challenged business,” Iger also said. But the home entertainment business has been “growing nicely on the digital front and I think that bodes well for the future,” he said. Q2 home entertainment revenue was “essentially flat,” as a 4 percent decrease due to lower unit sales was “offset” by a 3 percent increase from higher pricing, Disney said in the 10-Q filing. The increase in pricing reflected a higher sales mix of new releases, which have higher prices than catalog titles, in Q2 this time, it said. “Significant” Q2 home entertainment titles included Wreck-It Ralph, Lincoln and the Peter Pan “Diamond Release,” it said. Q2 Studio Entertainment revenue grew to $1.3 billion from $1.2 billion and swung to a $118 million operating profit from an $84 million operating loss, due in part to the theatrical movies Oz The Great and Powerful and Wreck-It Ralph performing much better than John Carter a year ago, said Disney.

The FTC’s proposed settlement with Wyndham Hotels for data security violations should be scrapped, TechFreedom and the International Center for Law and Economics told the U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., asking for permission to file a friend-of-the-court brief (http://bit.ly/166bVBl). “The FTC’s unfairness claim against Wyndham Hotels is unconstitutionally vague and inadequately pleaded, and, as such, should be dismissed by the Court,” said the two groups that often oppose regulation. The FTC brought a claim (WID June 7 p9) against Wyndham for its failure to “maintain reasonable security,” which made it possible for “intruders to obtain unauthorized access to the computer networks” of the company and several of its franchises on three occasions in less than two years, said the complaint (http://1.usa.gov/166evaj). The FTC has charged 17 companies with unfair trade practices for failure to have “reasonable data security” under its Section 5 FTC Act unfairness claim, all of which settled, said TechFreedom. That allowed the FTC to continue issuing complaints without setting forth guidance for what constitutes reasonable data security practices, TechFreedom said. The brief (http://bit.ly/18ipEUI) asked the court to “demand that the FTC develop the law of data security through rulemakings,” and to “require the FTC to plead claims with enough factual development to satisfy the general requirement of plausibility.” The brief asked the court to grant Wyndham’s motion to dismiss the case.