Bar Watching, Waiting for Software Patentability Ruling

“Patent lawyers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island are hoping the U.S. Supreme Court provides some useful guidance this term on whether computer-implemented software programs that draw on non-computerized principles . . . are eligible for patents.” In Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, the Court considers the Patent Act exception for “abstract ideas.” Oral argument took place earlier this month. “They certainly need to give some guidance,” said Finnegan partner Linda J. Thayer. “It’s a very fact-specific thing. It is very hard to describe how something is abstract.”