• Yesterday, President Obama held an hour-long Google hangout to White Housetake questions from the public, and the topic of patents came up.  He answered a question about non-practicing entities and startups, and acknowledged that the America Invents Act “only went about halfway” to full patent reform.  (via Patent Progress)
  • Judge James L. Robert issued a Valentine’s Day minute order re-opening the trial record in the Microsoft-Motorola RAND case, granting Motorola’s request to submit additional evidence (and allowing Microsoft to submit contextual evidence in rebuttal).  Judge Robart noted that the court “desires to issue its ruling with the most complete record possible.”  (More from Groklaw)
  • As we approach the March 16, 2013 implementation date for the change in the U.S. patent system from “First Inventor” to “First Inventor to File,” Patently-O examines a case where a party is seeking a declaration judgment that the new regime is unconstitutional. (Patently-O)
  • On Feb. 12 at Stanford Law School in Palo Alto, CA, the USPTO held the first of two roundtables to discuss software-related patent issues (the second will be Feb. 25 in New York City).  Simon Linder’s IP Blog provides a brief report.