LAMAR A. ALLEN

The Prior Art of War: Decoding Title 35

Education EN ↓ 5 episodes

In the high-stakes world of innovation, every idea is a battlefield and Title 35 is the art of war. Welcome to The Prior Art of War: Decoding Title 35, the podcast dedicated to the strategy, tactics, and decisive battles of United States patent law. Join us as we decode the complex legal framework that governs invention. We move beyond the dense text of the U.S. Code to reveal the strategic thinking required to triumph. Each episode, we analyze the weapons in your arsenal, from crafting ironclad claims that can withstand attack to mastering the nuances of patentable subject matter under §101....

Author

LAMAR A. ALLEN

Episodes

But Does It Do Anything? A Guide to the Utility Requirement 21.07.2025 21:42

Congratulations, you've invented a solar-powered flashlight. It's novel, non-obvious, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has one simple, crushing question: Is it actually useful? Welcome to the surprisingly tricky world of the utility requirement under 35 U.S.C. § 101. In this episode, we dissect the USPTO's favorite three-word mantra for utility: "specific, substantial, and credible." We ex...

A New Landscape: Novelty and Prior Art Under the AIA 21.07.2025 29:23

This episode provides a critical analysis of the novelty and anticipation doctrines following their fundamental restructuring under the America Invents Act (AIA). We examine the paradigm shift from a "first-to-invent" to a "first-inventor-to-file" system, a change that has profoundly altered patent prosecution strategy in the United States. The discussion centers on the modern definition of prior...

Oops, I Disclosed It Again! How to Avoid Losing Your Patent Before You Even File. 13.07.2025 26:50

Ever get that sinking feeling after excitedly telling everyone about your brilliant idea at a conference, only to remember you haven't filed the patent application yet? Welcome to the minefield of statutory bars under 35 U.S.C. § 102, the part of patent law designed to punish those who talk first and file later. In this episode, we unpack the deadliest pre-filing sins in the "first-inventor-to-fil...

The Modern Eligibility Framework: Applying the Alice/Mayo Test 12.07.2025 27:04

This episode delves into the prevailing legal test for patent eligibility in the United States under 35 U.S.C. § 101. We begin by outlining the four statutory categories of invention—processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter—before focusing on the judicially created exceptions for laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas that define the modern challenges of eligibi...

Foundational Principles of Patentable Subject Matter 12.07.2025 20:31

This episode provides a comprehensive analysis of the statutory framework governing patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. We examine the four enumerated categories of invention—process, machine, manufacture, and composition of matter—and clarify the eligibility of improvements to existing technologies. A central focus is the critical analysis of judicially created exceptions, including laws of...