Across the Bar

San Joaquin County opened its doors to its newly-minted Veterans Treatment Court on February 2, 2015, becoming one of approximately 200 such courts across the United States. Since that time, the Court has had three veterans graduate, one of whom is now a successful law student, and another who is now a valued, salaried employee of the Veterans Administration in Palo Alto. The program presently has five veterans on track to graduate on October 3, 2016.  Veterans are treated a little differen...

Ever since the 1998 decision of the Federal Circuit in State Street Bank,1 the question of whether business methods and related software are eligible for patent protection has bedeviled the courts. Although the United States Patent Office has granted thousands of patents in the field since then and the courts have issued numerous decisions on the validity of those patents, clear guidance remains elusive.  Section 101 of the Patent Act provides that a patent may be issued for any "new and us...