Go Ask Alice: Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Software Patents

On Monday, March 31 the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank, a case that many in the industry hope will clear up Federal Circuit case law concerning software patents. According to Finnegan partner Linda J. Thayer, the claims in Alice are “Interesting, but, as some people have pointed out, these might not be the best claims to address this issue. But, it was the most ripe and made it to court.” She predicted that the high court will look at more than the claims in the case specifically, likely taking a broad view to provide clarity on the application of the “101 filter”, which currently stands as the first threshold for determining invention patentability.