Why the Long Wait? Supreme Court Rules on Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank

Intellectual Asset Management blog, quoting attorneys about the recent ruling on Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank featured comments by Finnegan partner Linda J. Thayer. “The Supreme Court’s holding in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank is significant because it chose not to decide the ultimate question whether ‘claims to computer-implemented inventions . . . are directed to patent-eligible subject matter?’ Despite inviting the parties to brief this ultimate issue, the Court affirmed the Federal Circuit’s and district court’s invalidation of the claims by applying its In re Bilski and Mayo Collaborative Services precedents. By granting certiorari on the ultimate question and then refusing to address it, the Court endorsed the status quo, in which computer-implemented inventions and business methods are patentable. Justice Sotomayor’s concurring opinion, joined by Justices Ginsburg and Breyer, indicates that at least three justices supported a broader holding that would have invalidated all method claims,” said Thayer.