AIPLA Electronic and Computer Law Committee
Chair, Michael Dunnam
Vice-Chair, John Salazar
The ECLC has the mission of considering electronic, computer, and software technology and the
laws, administrative practices, and judicial decisions, both foreign and domestic, with respect to
securing, promoting, and enforcing the various intellectual property rights in such technology
and to cooperate with the AIPLA Board of Directors with recommendations as requested in such
matters.
The ECLC has formed a 101 Subcommittee (headed by Nandu Talwalkar, Manav Das, Jason
Vick, and Richard Gollhofer) that is coordinating with the Patent Law Committee of the AIPLA
to provide feedback to the USPTO regarding its 101 Guidelines. Going forward, the 101
subcommittee also intends to interface with the USPTO on issues related to subject matter eligibility.
At the upcoming AIPLA Mid-Winter Meeting, the ECLC will be partnering with the Trade
Secrets Law Committee to present a 2-hour joint Committee Educational Session. The program
will address hot topics in data security, federal trade secrets legislation, and the interplay of trade
secrets and patents for software related inventions. The proposed agenda is:
1. “Data Security for Lawyers: What You Need to Know” (60 minutes) – TBD (Seyfarth
Shaw, San Francisco)
2. “Considerations for Patent versus Trade Secret Protection for Software Post- Alice” (30
minutes) – Anthony Sammi (Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, New York)
3. “The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2015: A Legislative Update and Primer on Key
Passages” (30 minutes) – John Marsh
The ECLC also plans to hold an informal committee meeting to discuss current and planned
activities of the committee and opportunities for others to get involved.
Recent activities of the ECLC having included the annual Partnering in Patents program held on
October 21, 2015 at the USPTO. This year, we teamed with the Electronic and Computer
Technology Centers of the USPTO to provide a Focus Session from 9-11 am on “enhanced
patent quality” and teamed with the USPTO’s Software Partnership and members of the Patent
Law Committee to provide a program from 12-4 pm including an update on USPTO initiatives
and joint USPTO/bar presentations on patent eligible subject matter and functional claiming. On
October 22, the leadership of the ECLC held its annual Brown Bag Luncheon with the leadership
of the Electronic and Computer Technology Centers of the USPTO to exchange ideas and
anecdotes about improving the examination process, particularly with respect to examination for
patent eligibility under the new 101 Guidelines. From 3:30-5:30 pm on October 22, the ECLC
teamed with the IP in Japan Committee to hold a Round Table discussion on how to maneuver
the patentable subject matter guidelines for computer implemented inventions in the US, Japan,
China, and the EPO.
Separately, the ECLC is in the early planning stages of the 2016 Patent Law Summit tentatively
scheduled for June, 2016 in Portland, Oregon. Our committee has also prepared a first draft of a
“101 White Paper” that we plan to revisit soon. The “101 White Paper” is intended to provide the
C:\Users\mdunnam\Documents\eclc committee report december 2015.docx
underlying rationale for maintaining strong patent protection for software despite strong
countercurrents and outspoken adversaries. Our committee has also been asked to be prepared to
provide feedback on recent cases of interest, such as the ClearCorrect v. ITC case.
C:\Users\mdunnam\Documents\eclc committee report december 2015.docx