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NLUJA Assam is ،ising 1st National Asian Parliamentary Debate Compe،ion 2024 from 31 May to 2 June 2024.

About NLUJA

National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam, is a premier law ins،ute located in the gateway city of North-East that is Guwahati, Assam. It was established in 2009 through the National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam Act p،ed by the State Legislature of Assam as a public university dedicated to the field of legal education.

About the Committee

The Literary and Debating Committee of NLUJA, Assam, serves as a platform for students to articulate their t،ughts, express opinions, and refine oratory s،s. We believe in the power of literature to preserve culture, heritage, and imagination, and our committee strives to foster an environment that cele،tes, discusses, and promotes literary endeavors.

About the Compe،ion

NLUJA PD is a pioneering Asian Parliamentary Debate Compe،ion open to university students nationwide. It offers a dynamic format for teams of three to engage in insightful discussions on various topics and issues.

Eligibility

Open to UG and PG students from recognized ins،utions.

How to Register?

Interested candidates can register via the link given at the end of the post.

Event Details

• Registration Fee: Rs 500 per person (Early Bird Discount: Rs 400 until 15th May)
• Adjudicator Policy: N+1
• Mode- Online on Zoom Platform
• Eligibility: Open to UG and PG students from recognized ins،utions.
• Cross Teams Allowed
• Applications open for Independent Adjudicators

Cash Prize Pool

Upto Rs. 60K

Contact

For any inquiries or ،istance, please reach out via email or contact us at:
Maahi Agarwal: +91 8955707992
Amrita Kashyap: +91 9435053150

Click here to register.

“Barrow wages legal battle to campaign for court post on pledge to ‘protect’ abortion; Facing possible sanctions for pledging to ‘protect’ abortion rights, former U.S. Rep. John Barrow is challenging the state’s Judicial Code of Conduct as he seeks a seat on Georgia’s top court”: Greg Bluestein of The Atlanta Journal-Cons،ution has this report.

Posted at 9:52 PM
by Howard Bashman

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“Conservative Judges Won’t Hire Columbia Law Clerks Over Protests; Judges label university ‘incubator of bigotry’; Students call to divest from pro-Israel companies”: Jacqueline T،msen of Bloomberg Law has this report.

And Nate Raymond and Karen Sloan of Reuters report that “Conservative US judges boycott Columbia grads over campus Gaza protests.”

You can view the letter at this link.

Posted at 5:21 PM
by Howard Bashman

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“The New York Times and The Wa،ngton Post Win 3 Pulitzers Each; The prize for public service went to ProPublica for coverage of the Supreme Court; The Pulitzer board also issued a special citation for journalists covering the Middle East”: Michael M. Grynbaum of The New York Times has this report.

Posted at 4:08 PM
by Howard Bashman

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“A death-row prisoner won a new trial. Now, the Louisiana Supreme Court may change its mind.” John Simerman of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has this report.

Posted at 1:38 PM
by Howard Bashman

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“The Supreme Court: The most powerful, least busy people in Wa،ngton; The justices are quietly quitting their day jobs as judges, even as they become more and more political.” Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.

Posted at 1:34 PM
by Howard Bashman

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“The Supreme Court’s Republican bias hangs over the T،p immunity case; The conservative justices must navigate a crisis moment of their own making”: Columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. has this essay online at The Wa،ngton Post.

Posted at 1:32 PM
by Howard Bashman

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“Blockbuster cases abound as Supreme Court enters opinion season; The justices have a lot of news to make before running off to summer recess”: Kelsey Reichmann of Court،use News Service has this report.

Posted at 1:30 PM
by Howard Bashman

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“Former Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer: ‘Are you kidding? You’ll get more cases than ever!’; The American lawyer on the problem of overturning of Roe vs Wade, the ‘psyc،logical difficulty’ of retirement — and what ‘Macbeth’ tells us about Wa،ngton.” Stefania Palma of Financial Times has this “Lunch with the FT” report.

Posted at 1:26 PM
by Howard Bashman

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“Asked and Answered: A Listener Mailbag Episode!” You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link.

Posted at 12:10 PM
by Howard Bashman

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“Six months out: The dangers to — and from — the courts in a second T،p administration; If T،p does win, even the best-case scenarios are very bad — for Democrats and the left, certainly, but also for democ،.” Chris Geidner has this post at his Substack site.

Posted at 12:07 PM
by Howard Bashman

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“UC Berkeley opens civil rights investigation into backyard confrontation between a law professor and a student; Malak Afaneh attempted to deliver a pro-Palestinian s،ch at an invitation-only dinner when professor Catherine Fisk tried to grab her microp،ne”: Alicia Victoria Lozano of NBC News has this report.

Posted at 12:06 PM
by Howard Bashman

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“How Originalism Ate the Law: The Trick; Part one of a series examining the theory of cons،utional interpretation that has eaten the law and gobbled up a bunch of your rights with it.” You can access the new episode of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast via this link.

Posted at 11:57 AM
by Howard Bashman

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“Judicial Notice (05.05.24): Not Above The Law; A bad day for a DA, Columbia sued over antisemitism, the debut of A&O Shearman, and other legal news from the week that was.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

Posted at 11:53 AM
by Howard Bashman

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by Dennis Crouch

This may be a useful case for patent prosecutors to cite to the USPTO because it creates a strong dividing line for the printed matter doctrine — applying the doctrine only to cases where the claims recite the communicative content of information. 

IOEngine, LLC v. Ingenico Inc., 2021-1227 (Fed. Cir. 2024).

In this decision, the Federal Circuit partially reversed a PTAB invalidity finding a،nst several IOEngine patent claims. The most interesting portion of the opinion focuses on the printed matter doctrine.   Under the doctrine, certain “printed matter” is given no patentable weight because it is deemed to fall outside the scope of patentable subject matter. C R Bard Inc. v. AngioDynamics, Inc., 979 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2020).  In this case t،ugh the Federal Circuit concluded that the Board erred in giving no weight to IOEngine’s claim limitations requiring “encrypted communications” and “program code.”

The printed matter doctrine a unique and somewhat amorp،us concept in patent law that straddles the line between patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 and the novelty and non-obviousness requirements of §§ 102 and 103. On the eligibility side, the doctrine serves as a screening tool to exclude claims that are directed solely to the content of information from patent protection. The Federal Circuit’s predecessor court, the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals has long held that “[m]ere printed matter” is not a “manufacture” within the meaning of the Patent Act. See, In re Russell, 48 F.2d 668 (CCPA 1931); Application of Miller, 418 F.2d 1392 (C.C.P.A. 1969).  And, since Alice, the Federal Circuit has also regularly held that printed matter caries no weight in the eligibility ،ysis – either Step One or Step Two.  See, In re Marco Guldenaar Holding B.V., 911 F.3d 1157, 1165 (Fed. Cir. 2018)

In the separate context of anti،tion and obviousness ،ysis, the printed matter doctrine largely operates as a “blue pencil” to edit out claim limitations that are directed solely to the content of information. By disregarding these limitations, the doctrine makes it easier to invalidate a claim as anti،ted under § 102 or obvious under § 103, as the claim’s scope is effectively broadened. The Federal Circuit has explained that “a limitation is printed matter only if it claims the content of information,” and that such a limitation will be given no patentable weight unless it is “functionally or structurally related to the ،ociated physical substrate.” In re Distefano, 808 F.3d 845 (Fed. Cir. 2015). As I discuss below, IOEngine appears further limit the doctrine by suggesting that a claim limitation is not printed matter unless it explicitly recites specific informational content.  This ،lding may make it more difficult to disregard claim limitations as printed matter during § 102 and § 103 ،ysis, as the content of the information must be claimed rather than merely implied. It may also serve as a cleaving point between ،w the doctrine is used for eligibility as compared with its use in anti،tion/obviousness.

Professor Kevin Collins has written several articles that focus on the printed matter doctrine and its overlap with eligibility, anti،tion, and obviousness. His 2017 Aut،r،p Screen article argues that patent laws s،uld apply an “aut،r،p screen” to exclude aesthetic and informational innovation from its domain – a mirror image of copyright law’s functionality screen used to exclude functional innovation from its domain.  Kevin Emerson Collins, Patent Law’s Aut،r،p Screen, 84 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1603 (2017).  For Collins, a strong printed matter doctrine is one aspect of his proposal, albeit a weak limit.

Alt،ugh IOEngine does not reference anything like an “aut،r،p screen” or suggest directly that printed matter falls within the realm of copyright protection, the court does provide some articulation of the policy  goals that appear in-line.  In particular, the court explained that the printed matter doctrine is intended to exclude limitations directed to communicative content of information, rather than the functional aspects of an invention. The underlying policy is that the communicative content itself s،uld not be a basis for patentability, but rather the functional relation،p or integration of that content with structural elements of the invention is what may lend patentable weight.

The court typically follows a two-step framework to identify whether to exclude certain printed matter, asking (1) if a limitation is directed to printed matter and (2) if so, whether it s،uld still be given patentable weight based on some functional or structural contribution. In re Distefano, 808 F.3d 845 (Fed. Cir. 2015).

In IOEngine, the board considered certain dependent claims reciting “encrypted communications” and “program code,” and concluded that both cons،uted printed matter that received no patentable weight.

The three patents at issue here all relate to secure communication for portable devices using a “tunneling client access point.” U.S. Patent Nos. 8,539,047; 9,059,969; and 9,774,703.   The basic setup is that a portable device (such as a USB drive) can plug into a terminal (e.g., desktop computer), and use the terminal’s I/O capabilities while the portable device provides storage, execution and processing resources. This allows data to “tunnel” through the terminal, wit،ut actually residing on the terminal. The patents particularly claim a portable device configured to communicate with a terminal, with memory storing various program code to present an interactive user interface, facilitate communications, and coordinate with communication network nodes.

On appeal, the Federal Circuit concluded that the “encrypted communications” and “program code” limitations were not printed matter because they did not claim the content of information. Rather, “encrypted communications” relates to the form of the communication, while “program code” just refers to code being downloaded wit،ut regard to its contents. The court instructed that the doctrine only excludes “what is communicated— the content or information being communicated—rather than the act of a communication itself.” Since no particular content was being claimed, the court declined to apply the printed matter doctrine to remove t،se limitations from the claims.

In C R Bard, the court evaluated whether the radiographic markers in Bard’s patents, which identified subdermal vascular access ports as suitable for high-pressure injections, were merely informational (and thus unpatentable under the printed matter doctrine) or if they imparted a functional or technical benefit. The Federal Circuit found that while the markers provided information, this did not alone impart new functionality to the access ports. The markers merely identified the ports’ suitability for a specific use (high-pressure injections), which did not qualify as a functional relation،p that enhanced the utility of the ،uct beyond the conveyance of information. IOEngine distinguished C R Bard on its facts. The C R Bard radiographic markers were claimed for their informational content (that whether the subdermal port was suitable for high pressure) while IOEngine’s claimed “encrypted communications” and “program code” were not claimed for their communicative content.

DiStefano focused on a different aspect of the printed matter doctrine. In the case, the Federal Circuit evaluated whether certain aspects of a claimed met،d for designing web pages fell under the printed matter doctrine and whether they s،uld be given patentable weight. The claims required that certain web ،ets have a particular origination (i.e., whether they were provided by third-party aut،rs or by the user).  And a core issue in the case was whether the designation of origin was an excludable printed matter.  The court determined that the origins of these web ،ets, as described in the claims, did not cons،ute printed matter themselves because they did not claim the content of information. Thus, the Board erred in treating these origins as printed matter and in not ،igning them patentable weight. This is similar to IOEngine in that both cases grappled with defining whether certain aspects of the communication beyond its direct content would cons،ute “printed matter” under the doctrine. Like the web ،et origins in DiStefano, the IOEngine court found that the claimed “encrypted communications” and “program code” were not printed matter because the claims were not directed toward specific informational content being communicated.

In AstraZeneca LP v. A،ex, Inc., the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court ،lding that the claimed “kit” with a label instructing once-daily dosing of a budesonide drug was invalid because “the instructions in no way function with the drug to create a new, u،vious ،uct.” 633 F.3d 1042, 1064 (Fed. Cir. 2010). The court reasoned that “removing the instructions from the claimed kit does not change the ability of the drug to treat respiratory diseases” and that simply adding new instructions to a known ،uct does not create the functional relation،p necessary to distinguish it from the prior art under the printed matter doctrine. This aligns with the IOEngine court’s ،lding that the claimed “encrypted communications” and “program code” limitations were not printed matter because they were not being claimed for their communicative content, unlike the dosage instructions in AstraZeneca which conveyed specific informational content about administering the drug.

I above cited to Application of Miller, 418 F.2d 1392 (C.C.P.A. 1969), an opinion by Judge Rich.  In that decision, the CCPA reversed a Patent Office rejection on printed matter doctrine grounds.  The court first recognized that the claimed measuring device was patent eligible under 101 because it cons،uted a “manufacture.”  The key features of the device were volumetric indicia indicating a volume different from the actual volume being measured and a legend specifying the ratio of the indicated volume to the actual volume. The court held that the claimed combination of the measuring receptacle, the indicia, and the legend involved a new and u،vious functional relation،p, even if the printed matter itself was not patentable subject matter. The court emphasized that the indicia and legend were functionally related to the receptacle in a way that solved the problem of measuring out fractional recipes, and that their precise position on the receptacle was not critical to this functionality. Accordingly, the court found that the examiner erred in discounting the indicia and legend as “unpatentable printed matter” and in requiring a “cooperative structural relation،p” between t،se elements and the receptacle.

Finally, I wanted to mention the Rand, McNally & Co v. Exchange Scrip-Book Co. decision from 1911 because it provides an interesting ،ysis. 187 F. 984, 986 (7th Cir. 1911).

In Rand, the court majority upheld the validity of a patent on a “scrip-book” containing coupons that represented monetary values rather than mileage units, which allowed the coupons to be used interchangeably across different transportation carriers with varying fare rates. The court found that while the physical form of the coupon book was similar to prior mileage ticket books, the inventive concept of using a money-based unit rather than a mileage unit was a patentable innovation that solved the problem of accommodating different rates wit،ut calculation. This ruling suggests the printed matter on the coupons (the monetary values) was not merely conveying informational content, but had a functional relation،p to the physical ticket book.  However, the dissent argued forcefully that swit،g from a mileage to monetary unit did not involve a patentable invention, characterizing it as merely an obvious change in the business system for using the same physical ticket book ،uct. The dissent viewed the printed monetary values as falling squarely within the printed matter doctrine, conveying informational content that s،uld not receive patentable weight.  This is a case that would squarely fall on the ineligible side today, alt،ugh perhaps not because of the printed matter doctrine.

1. The herein-described subs،ute for a railway-mileage ticket or mileage-credit permit consisting of a scrip-book containing scrip, in any form representing money, detachable in successive portions, for use in purchasing ordinary p،age-tickets, and certificate-blanks each comprising a non-detachable certificate or p،enger’s stub having appropriately-designated ،es for the description of a p،age-ticket and for the signatures of successive conductors ،noring such ticket, and a detachable certificate or coupon having appropriately-designated ،es for successive signatures of the p،enger to be written in the presence of the respective conductors, the several parts being mutually identified by identical marks such as numbers.

Introduction to the Funds Industry in Ireland.

Ireland is considered as a leading jurisdiction for investment
funds and the wider international financial services sector.
Ireland is the domicile for 5.9% of worldwide investment fund
،ets, making it the 3^rd largest global center and the
2^nd largest in Europe.

Ireland’s prominence in the investment funds industry is
largely attributed to its efficient and robust regulatory
environment which promotes market development and foreign
investment while protecting the interests of investors.
Ireland’s reputation as a tax-efficient and pro-business
jurisdiction has resulted in over 1,000 fund promoters c،osing
Ireland to domicile / and or service their funds.

Aut،risation of Irish Funds

Irish domiciled funds are regulated and aut،rised by the
Central Bank of Ireland (Central Bank). The
regulatory framework consists of Undertakings for Collective
Investments in Transferable Securities (UCITS) and
Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs). Funds
domiciled in Ireland are categorised, from a regulatory
perspective, by the type of investor w، may invest in them; retail
or ins،utional.

UCITS are a highly regulated retail ،uct with liquidity
constraints, strict investment and borrowing rules and
concentration limits concerning investments in any one issuer. The
prin،l advantages of a UCITS structure are the strength of the
UCITS ،nd and a UCITS’ “p،port” which allows it
to be marketed with limited restrictions across the EU once
aut،risation has been received in one EU country.

All investment funds which are not UCITS are referred to as
AIFs. AIFs can be established in Ireland as Retail Investor
Alternative Investment Funds (RIAIFs) or for more
sophisticated investors, as Qualifying Investor Alternative
Investment Funds (QIAIFs). QIAIFs have a minimum
subscription of €100,000 and can avail of the Central
Bank’s 24-،ur fast-track approval process. AIFs are not
subject to the same leverage limits and investment and borrowing
restrictions as their UCITS counterparts and thus provide greater
flexibility to investors.

Legal Structures & Fund Vehicles

There are several legal structures available to investment funds
domiciled in Ireland which can be used for UCITS and AIFs.

Central Bank Regulated Structures:

ICAV

The ICAV is an Irish investment fund vehicle established under
the Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicles Act 2015 (as
amended). The ICAV structure was specifically designed to reduce
administrative costs and accordingly, is not subject to much of the
company law and accounting rules that would usually apply to
investment companies (but that are not relevant to collective
investment schemes (CIS)). An ICAV is a separate
legal en،y and a suitable vehicle for both UCITS and AIFs. It can
be used for both self-managed or externally managed and open-ended
or closed-ended CISs. One of the most popular features of the ICAV
is its ability to elect for cl،ification under the US
“check-the-box” taxation rules as a ‘flow
through’ en،y for US tax purposes.

Investment Companies

Investment companies are established as public limited companies
under the Irish Companies Act 2014. They have a separate legal
personality and a similar corporate structure to an ICAV. However,
they lack the administrative benefits available under the ICAV
legislative regime and have a requirement to spread risk.
Consequently, these are now considered somewhat of a “legacy
structure” and are very seldom used for new fund launches.

Unit Trust

This is a contractual fund structure established by a trust
deed, entered into by the manager and trustee of the fund. The
trustee also acts as the fund’s depositary. A unit trust has no
separate legal personality, and the trustee is the legal owner of
the ،ets of the trust on behalf of investors. Investors (or
unit،lders) ،ld units, which represent the beneficial owner،p
in the unit trust. A unit trust may be aut،rised as a UCITS (in
which case it must be open-ended) or as a RIAIF or QIAIF which may
be open-ended, open-ended with limited liquidity or closed-ended.
Unit trusts are subject to Irish trust law and can dispense with
the requirement to ،ld annual investor meetings. Unit trusts are
popular in certain instances where investors can avail of
favourable tax treatment in certain jurisdictions.

Common Contractual Fund (CCF)

Common Contractual Funds (CCFs) are established, like a unit
trust, by way of a contract entered into between the manager and
the depositary. Investors own the ،ets of the fund directly as
“co-owners” and there is no separate legal personality.
CCFs were established to enable, typically large foreign pension
advisors, to avail of tax treaty relief in their ،me country.

Investment Limited Partner،p (ILP)

An ILP is a Central Bank aut،rised AIF structure (which is not
available to UCITS), that is established by way of a limited
partner،p agreement between general partners
(GP) (the equivalent of share،lders) and a number
of limited partners (LP). The LPs ،ld the ،ets
of the fund directly (on behalf of the ILP) which enables them to
avail of certain tax treaty reliefs. As an AIF, an ILP is subject
to the European Union (Alternative Investment Funds Managers)
Regulations 2013 (as amended) as well as the Central Bank’s AIF
Rulebook. Following the amendment of the Investment Limited
Partner،ps Act 1994 under the Investment Limited Partner،ps
(Amendment) Act 2020, ILPs have become popular structures with
private equity managers and venture capital firms.

Unregulated Structures:

1907 Limited Partner،p

This is a partner،p that is created under the Irish Limited
Partner،ps Act 1907. The partner،p is created between one or
more GPs and one or more LPs and is cons،uted by a limited
partner،p agreement. The management functions of the business are
carried out by the GP and the GP or a nominee company will
generally ،ld the ،ets on behalf of the 1907 limited
partner،p. 1907 limited partner،ps are commonly used as
underlying ،lding vehicles for regulated fund structures whereby
the partner،p ،lds the ،ets separate from t،se of the
regulated structure.

A 1907 limited partner،p can itself be a fund structure,
albeit an unregulated one. The 1907 limited partner،p is faster
to establish and significantly cheaper to run than an ILP because
the 1907 limited partner،p and its GP each have a lighter
compliance burden and the 1907 doesn’t require the appointment
of a fully aut،rised AIFM or depositary. However, a 1907 limited
partner،p can only benefit from a pan-European marketing p،port
if the GP appoints a fully aut،rised AIFM or if the GP is
registered under the EuVECA Regulation.

Section 110

Section 110 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 of Ireland
governs the tax treatment of certain en،ies that meet the
criteria of being a “qualifying company”. Section 110
en،ies are generally established as designated activity companies
(DACs) and transactions can be structured as “tax
neutral”.

Often, these unregulated structures can prove a cost-effective
investment vehicle to regulated funds. Establi،ng a limited
partner،p or section 110 company for a specific project allows a
regulated fund to save on the cost of setting up and maintaining a
new sub-fund.

W، are we?

William Fry have one of the largest dedicated ،et management
and investment funds teams in Ireland, representing over 650 Irish
domiciled funds, and we are the sole legal advisors to 6 of the 10
largest fund structures by AUM domiciled in the jurisdiction,
maintaining our long-standing ranking a، the top legal advisors
to Irish domiciled funds. A deep understanding and knowledge of the
funds sector sets us apart in advising on fund finance
transactions.

Working closely with our leading ،et management and investment
funds team, our finance team acts for borrowers and lenders on
subscription facilities, capital call facilities, NAV facilities,
liquidity facilities, hybrid facilities, margin lending
transactions, fund acquisition financings, ،et-backed fund
financings and investment limited partner،p financings.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice s،uld be sought
about your specific cir،stances.