In the First Post-Bilski Consideration of Section 101, Federal Circuit Finds the Process Patent is Valid, Undoes Microsoft Win Against RCT (Again)

This article discusses the first case in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has considered patentability under Section 101 of the Patent Act in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bilski v. Kappos. In this decision, a three-judge appellate panel concluded that Arizona federal district court judge Robert Jones erred when he ruled that claims in two patents held by Research Corporation Technologies Inc. (“RCT”), were invalid because they covered non-patentable material. The ruling reverses, for the second time, a district court win for Microsoft. J. Michael Jakes, a partner at Finnegan, made the winning appellate argument for RCT as well as represented Bilski.  "It's the first post-Bilski decision on Section 101, so people are interested to read it," said Jakes about the RCT case. "We think Judge Rader's opinion takes a correct and very broad view of Section 101." RCT is represented by Finnegan.