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Samuel Hayim

Patent Attorney, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP

is an Associate for Kilpatrick Townsend at their Washington DC office. Mr. Hayim’s work focuses on patent counseling and prosecution in the software and electronic arts, in particular in artificial intelligence and machine learning, bioinformatics, software development frameworks, control systems, and telecommunications. Mr. Hayim frequently performs and uses empirical analysis of prosecution trends and his experience as a former patent examiner to improve client counseling and prosecution strategies. Mr. Hayim is admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia and is a registered patent practitioner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

For More information or to contact Mr. Hayim, please visit his Firm Profile Page.

Recent Articles by Samuel Hayim

Update on 101 Rejections at the USPTO: Prospects for Computer-Related Applications Continue to Improve Post-Guidance

The Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in Alice v. CLS Bank made it significantly more difficult to obtain patents for some computer-related technologies. it is, at best, questionable whether court decisions since then have been coherent and consistent. Similarly, marked variation has been observed across art units and across post-Alice time periods as to how examiners are applying Section 101. However, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) 2019 Patent Eligibility Guidance added some much-needed clarity and predictability as to how eligibility of computer-related patent applications is being assessed at the agency. Our previous research focused on the effect that Alice and Electric Power Group had on examination trends in computer-related art units. To investigate how the new 2019 USPTO eligibility guidance has affected those trends, we updated our analysis.

Bioinformatics Innovations Thrive Despite 101 Chaos

Bioinformatics is a growing interdisciplinary technological field in which computing and software resources are applied to biological data and solve biological problems. For example, bioinformatics can be used to predict protein sequences through analysis of large databases of biological data to enable the development of new drug therapies. Advances in computing and software, like artificial intelligence (AI), open increasing possibilities in bioinformatics. Bioinformatics is growing rapidly—the market is predicted to exceed $16 billion by 2022. As with most growing industries, mechanisms that protect and promote innovations are key to supporting that growth. Thus, it is no surprise that the number of patent applications filed and assigned to the designated bioinformatics art unit was 40% higher in 2017 than it was in 2010. Despite this significant increase in applications, for the last five years, the subject-matter-eligibility requirement (codified as 35 U.S.C. § 101) of the U.S. patent law has been particularly vexing to applicants of computer-related inventions like bioinformatics.