content: I only know enough about intellectual property law to spot issues and get experts involved.  That said, I would not leap to the conclusion this applies to anything outside of patent law.  Copyright law, trademark law, patent law, etc. are all discrete subjects which can have very different rules.  That's not say clever people won't make the argument and possibly do so successfully (especially in cases like John Deere).  I just wouldn't start counting chickens when only one of the eggs has hatched.