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Clause 8

Clause 8

Eli Mazour 102 Episodes Oct 13, 2026

Clause 8 is a podcast about intellectual property law, featuring conversations with in-house counsel, judges, USPTO officials, and patent dealmakers. Host Eli Mazour provides strategic insights on patent issues, with guests including federal judges and top IP policymakers. The show is ranked #1 in its category and has been cited by Bloomberg, Law360, and other legal publications.

Episodes

Coke Morgan Stewart Tells Her Story
Coke Morgan Stewart Tells Her Story Oct 13, 2026 6076 When Coke Morgan Stewart became acting director of the USPTO, much of the patent world knew relatively little about her. Yet she quickly became the focus of considerable praise and criticism for the agency’s decisions, often without much understanding of her background or how those decisions actually came about. In this episode of Clause 8, Stewart, now President and CEO of the Council for Innovat
How Patent Litigation Really Moves: IAM, IP Fray, and MLex Reporters on the Year in IP
How Patent Litigation Really Moves: IAM, IP Fray, and MLex Reporters on the Year in IP Sep 29, 2026 2720 To open the season, host Eli Mazour brings together three journalists who cover intellectual property for a living: Olivia Rafferty of IP Fray, Nisha Shetty of IAM, and Inbar Preiss of MLex.They discuss what happens when patent litigation concentrates in a few courts, from Germany's dominance at the Unified Patent Court to the rise and fall of Judge Alan Albright in Texas. They also cover consolid
Via Eyes "De Facto" Standards for Future Pools
Via Eyes "De Facto" Standards for Future Pools Jun 2, 2026 3054 Kevin Mack, the new president of Via Licensing Alliance, joins Eli for the Clause 8 season finale.Kevin talks about Via's plans to build its next patent pools around "de facto" standards — technology the market adopted on its own, with no standards body behind it — which would push collaborative licensing into territory it has never touched. Mack also takes a hard look at the royalty-free models s
AI Boom Calls for New Copyright Law, Says USPTO Chief Behind the DMCA
AI Boom Calls for New Copyright Law, Says USPTO Chief Behind the DMCA May 19, 2026 4538 Bruce Lehman, head of USPTO from 1993 to 1998, joins Clause 8 for a wide-ranging conversation about the modern IP system, the internet boom, and why the AI era may require a new copyright response from Congress.Lehman helped shape internet-era copyright policy from the USPTO, including the work that led to the WIPO Copyright Treaties and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). He also played
The AI Patent Team Alice Built Shares Its Prosecution Secrets
The AI Patent Team Alice Built Shares Its Prosecution Secrets May 5, 2026 2778 When Alice came down in 2014, much of the patent prosecution bar reacted with denial. Most practitioners hoped the USPTO, the Federal Circuit, or Congress would clean things up — and that adding some magic language to claims and specifications would eventually be enough.Eli Mazour and Ngai Zhang, separately, came to a different conclusion: there had to be a new, better way to obtain strong patents
Inventor Gilbert Hyatt's gift to America — will America accept it?
Inventor Gilbert Hyatt's gift to America — will America accept it? Apr 21, 2026 1153 President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick pride themselves on being dealmakers and on making the kind of unconventional deals for America no one else could have gotten done. Gil Hyatt is offering them one that sounds like a no-brainer. However, the question remains whether that dealmaking reputation is enough to overcome thirty years of inertia from prior administrations focused on opp
The Hidden Costs of “Free” Patent Licensing Initiatives
The Hidden Costs of “Free” Patent Licensing Initiatives Apr 7, 2026 3374 Is anything in the patent world ever really free?That question anchors a new Clause 8 conversation between host Eli Mazour and Professor Kristen Osenga, a University of Richmond law professor and one of the leading academic voices on standard essential patents.At the center of the discussion is the rise of so-called “royalty-free” technology standards. Osenga’s point is straightforward: “free” oft
USPTO Director John Squires' 'Foxhole Buddy' Tells All, Previews Message at Upcoming House Hearing
USPTO Director John Squires' 'Foxhole Buddy' Tells All, Previews Message at Upcoming House Hearing Mar 22, 2026 4115 The story of how John Squires became USPTO Director doesn’t start inside the Beltway. It starts on the Appalachian Trail, with Doug Pittman camping under shooting stars the night after Trump won the election.Pittman — a serial entrepreneur, inventor, and self-described “foxhole buddy” and “wingman” of Squires — drove up from Georgia to sit down with Eli for this episode., fresh off a meeting with
The USPTO Is Changing Course. The Early Examination Data Tells a More Complicated Story.
The USPTO Is Changing Course. The Early Examination Data Tells a More Complicated Story. Mar 10, 2026 3044 Eli Mazour is joined by Juristat’s Francesca Cruz and patent attorney Clint Mehall to look at what the examination data actually says about recent USPTO changes. The conversation moves past anecdotes to analyze how new examiner performance appraisal plan (PAP), new Section 101 guidance, and the end of the AFCP program are affecting day-to-day patent prosecution.The guests discuss a new framework f
From DABUS to ChatGPT and Beyond: How AI Is Reshaping Patent Law
From DABUS to ChatGPT and Beyond: How AI Is Reshaping Patent Law Feb 24, 2026 3156 Artificial intelligence has been raising foundational questions for patent law long before generative tools entered the mainstream. In this episode of Clause 8, host Eli Mazour speaks with Wen Xie, U.S. Patent Attorney and Founder of Lux Lumen Intellectual Property, about how legal thinking around AI, inventorship, and patent eligibility has evolved—and where it appears to be heading.The conversat
How Senator Tillis’ Patent Leadership Provides Path for Cementing Recent USPTO Action
How Senator Tillis’ Patent Leadership Provides Path for Cementing Recent USPTO Action Feb 10, 2026 4256 In the latest episode of Clause 8, recorded in December 2025, Eli Mazour sits down with Peter-Anthony Pappas, Director of Intellectual Property Policy for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary under Senator Thom Tillis, at a moment when the USPTO’s direction is in significant alignment with what Senator Tillis and Senator Chris Coons have been working toward since reviving the Senate IP Subco
Head of IP’s Playbook for the AI Infrastructure Boom
Head of IP’s Playbook for the AI Infrastructure Boom Jan 27, 2026 1577 How do you protect the IP of a rapidly growing technology company in the dynamic AI sector without slowing engineers or missing what really matters?That question is at the center of this episode of Clause 8, where host Eli Mazour sat down with Subroto Bose, Head of IP at Astera Labs, at the VIA Licensing Alliance’s 2025 Bridge Summit.Prior to Astera, Subroto held IP leadership roles at global semi

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