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Peter Lablans

Independent Inventor

Peter Lablans is a prolific independent inventor on two patent portfolios, one on cryptography and another on cameras. You can find free trial programs that implement his cryptographic inventions on his website. Lablans is an EE and was trained in computer science by Prof. Dr. “Gerry” Blaauw, co-architect of the legendary IBM System/360 machine and co-designer of the revolutionary Stretch. And who taught that every machine implemented computer program is a hardware structure.

Recent Articles by Peter Lablans

Exploring the Misguided Notion that ‘Merely Doing It on A Computer’ Negates Eligibility

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Alice decision alleges that “…merely requiring generic computer implementation fails to transform that abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention.” And the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA) of 2023 alleges that “adding a non-essential reference to a computer by merely stating, ‘do it on a computer’ shall not establish such eligibility.” Clearly, it is assumed that “merely” doing something on a computer or “merely” saying “do it on a computer” is not a desirable thing in the eyes of some; a computer supposedly invalidates the inventive effort and “merely” doing something on a computer is undeserving of even consideration of a patent.

Function and Structure in Computers: A Stakeholder’s View

As an independent inventor, I am greatly concerned about the new proposed Section 112(f) wording related to “functional claiming” that was put forward as part of the fix for patent eligibility law. While the bill is on the back burner for now, lawmakers have stated their desire to revive it. In my mind it is part of a continuing effort to prevent inventors of computer-implemented inventions from experiencing smooth sailing in patent prosecution and patent assertion. A description of what computers do and how they “logically” work has a close relationship with its physical structure. These aspects are closely interwoven and largely equivalent. Executing a computer operation means that physical circuits are activated. A computer operation or function is not a disembodied occurrence. An instruction executed by a computer is a rapid configuration/activation of one or more (usually electrical) circuits.