For the third time in the last four years, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday will set out to distinguish patent-eligible inventions from mere abstract ideas. This time the court will be doing it in the context of computerized business methods, and that has Silicon Valley lawyers paying extra attention.
Some are hoping the high court will use Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank to make clear that tacking the words “a computer system configured to” onto a claim does not automatically render it eligible under Section 101 of the Patent Act. Others worry that a decision casting doubt on software patents could put a serious crimp in fast-growing, IP-intensive industries such as mobile health-care apps.
