circuit court

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is pressing the DC Circuit to vacate a federal drone flight restriction that effectively criminalized aerial recording of immigration agents. The group argues the restriction blocks journalists and the public from documenting enforcement operations, raising First Amendment concerns. Commenters online are debating the balance between airspace security and the right to observe government agents at work.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a lower court's dismissal of patents covering internet advertising technology owned by a party challenging Google. The court found the claims ineligible under Section 101 of the Patent Act, which governs whether inventions are patentable subject matter. The decision is being closely watched by intellectual property practitioners, as it adds to the line of Federal Circuit rulings limiting software and business-method patents in the digital advertising space.