Practice Areas
Concentrations
Patent law, focusing primarily on software implemented inventions.
Industries
Bar memberships
- Ohio, 2005
Courts
- USPTO, 2007
- Southern District of Ohio, 2008
- Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, 2008
- Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, 2008
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 2005, Magna Cum Laude
- Order of the Coif
ABA/BNA IP Award - University of Southern California, B.S., 2002, Computer Science, Magna Cum Laude
- U.P.E. (Computer Science Honor Society)
William S. Morriss
William is an IP attorney with more than a decade of experience working with inventors and startups, as well as major publicly traded companies, to develop, license and protect their software and other intellectual property assets. Prior to practicing law, William earned a computer science degree and now applies this technological expertise to his own practice, having co-invented and acquired patent 8,589,306 for open source license management technology and co-founded the legal software company IP Toolworks LLC, which uses algorithms based on current best practices to facilitate the patent application process.
Highlights & Recognitions
- Selected for inclusion in Ohio Super Lawyers Rising Stars®, 2013, 2018.
- Co-inventor of "Open Source License Management" U.S. Pat. No. 8,589,306
- Co-founder of IP Toolworks
- Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US), International Association of Privacy Professionals, 2019
Memberships & Affiliations
- Ohio State Bar, 2005
- United States Patent and Trademark Office, 2007
FBT Publications
- SRI International v. Cisco: Patent Eligibility Unresolved Tension between Highest Courts
- Patent Office Speechless!! Fed. Cir. Says Evidence Needed for Ineligibility
- Fed. Cir. Hears Mobile Interface Eligibility Appeal – What Happened Next BLEW MY MIND
- A new hope for inventors? Emerging liberalization of subject matter eligibility in Trading Technologies v. CQG
- One Weird Trick to Beat Alice Rejections (Examiners HATE This)
- What’s happened to software inventions? Five unexpected facts that will change how you see patent eligibility
- McRo v. Bandai: Evidence related to claimed improvement is key to whether claims are directed to an abstract idea
- Bascom v. AT&T Mobility: Fodder for arguments on patent eligibility
- Digitech v. Electronics Imaging: the first application of Alice v. CLS Bank by the Federal Circuit
- Supreme Court issues opinion in Alice v. CLS:
- Supreme Court issues opinion in case concerning ambiguous patent claim
- Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Nautilus v. Biosig Instruments
- Supreme Court hears oral argument in Alice Corp v. CLS Bank: When are inventions too abstract to be patented?
- Federal Circuit Expands Potential Liability for Inducing Infringement of Patented Methods
- CyberSource Corp. v. Retail Decisions, Inc.
- Patent Office Announces New First Action Interview Program
- Defusing the Open Source Storm
- Bilski v. Kappos: Supreme Court Refuses to Prohibit Software, Business Method, and Medical Diagnostic Method Patents
- In re Bilski:
The Federal Circuit Narrows the Patentability of Software and Business Methods - KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc.: the Supreme Court revises the standard for obviousness
News
FBT Events
Press Releases
- 34 Frost Brown Todd Attorneys Recognized by Ohio Super Lawyers® and 20 Recognized by Ohio Rising Stars® for 2018
- ThyssenKrupp Elevator Wins Patent Infringement Case
- Frost Brown Todd Appoints 12 New Members
- 43 Frost Brown Todd Attorneys Recognized by Ohio Super Lawyers® and 17 Recognized by Ohio Rising Stars® for 2013
Non-FBT Publications and Events
Speaker: Recent Developments in Patent Subject Matter Eligibility, 28th Annual University of Dayton Program in Law and Technology Seminar, June 2018
Speaker: Bankers & Bitcoins: What You Need to Know, Bankers & Bagels presented by Frost Brown Todd & BKD CPAs and Advisors, May 2018
Speaker: Blockchain Beyond Bitcoin: Models, opportunities, threats and risk management, 10th Annual NKU Cybersecurity Symposium, October 2017
Presenter: IANYA Chat Ep. 4 “Everything’s obvious with hindsight”
Presenter: IANYA Chat Ep. 3 “The first half million goes to patent protection”
Speaker: Intellectual property and open source licensing basics, The Perl Conference, June 2017
Presenter: IANYA Chat Ep. 2 “Promoting progress in the useful art of BBQ”
Presenter: IANYA Chat Ep. 1 “You lost me at no patent”
Speaker: Accounting for Everything but Alice while Patenting Tomorrow's Data Security Technology, University of Dayton's 25th Annual Program in Law and Technology Seminar, June 2015
Panelist: Limitations of Intellectual Property Based Assets, ITechLaw World Technology Law Conference and Annual Meeting, May 2015
Author: Surviving and Thriving in a New World of Patent Eligible Subject Matter, ITechLaw World Technology Law Conference Paper (2015)
Interviewee: Impact of 3D Printing Technology on the Law, LawyerMade Magazine, August 2014
Speaker: Continuing Developments in Patent, Copyright and Trademark Law: an Overview of the U.S. Supreme Court's Docket of Intellectual Property Cases, Louisville Bar Association (2014)
Moderator: Measuring Quality and Value of Intellectual Property Work, CincyIP, November 2013
Panelist: CLS Bank v. Alice,23rd Annual Seminar on Significant Issues in the Intellectual Property Law of Computers and Cyberspace, University of Dayton School of Law, June 2013
Panelist: Strategies for Software Protection, CincyIP, June 2012
Moderator: Microsoft v. i4i, 21st Annual Seminar on Significant Issues in the Intellectual Property Law of Computers and Cyberspace, University of Dayton School of Law, June 2011
Panelist: The Past, Present and Future of Protecting Software in a Digitalized, Wired World, ITechLaw World Technology Law Conference and Annual Meeting, May 2011
Author: "History of Intellectual Property Protection for Computer Software" ITechLaw World Technology Conference Paper (2011)
Author: "Bilski v. Kappos: Understanding the Most Important Patent Decision of the New Millennium" September 2010 CBA Report 8 (2010)
Panelist: Privacy Considerations for Business Use of Social Networking/Behavioral Advertising, SWA-ACC (Southwest Ohio Association of Corporate Counsel) CLE Seminar, June 2010
Speaker: Information Technology Legal Issues, Information Systems Security Association, June 2010
Speaker: Proposed Local Patent Rules for the Southern District of Ohio
Moderated Panel Discussion presented by CincyIP, January 2009
Speaker: Can you Secure the Infrastructure Around the Data You Must Save
Electronic Discovery Webinar Presented with Ecora Software, April 2008
Speaker: Snapshot of Current Data Security/Breach Requirements - Judicial Responses
Privacy and Information Security Group Continuing Legal Education Seminar, Louisville, Kentucky (2007)
Speaker: Preparing for Data Breaches Privacy and Information Security Breakfast Forum, Cincinnati, Ohio (2007)
Speaker: Conically shaped can be equivalent to "spherically shaped." DePuy Spine, Inc. v. Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Inc., Cincinnati Bar Association Intellectual Property Litigation Committee, Cincinnati, Ohio (2007)
Author: "Use of the Accused Device in Patent Claim Construction." 23 Intell. Prop. L. Newsl. 18 (2004).