Computer Implemented Inventions: Through The Looking Glass

USPTO guidance provides clarity into Post-Alice practice

Over the last few months, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a set of guidance documents that help clarify the state of patent office practice as it relates to patent subject matter eligibility following the Alice decision by the United States Supreme Court (Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'l, 573 U.S. __, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014)). These guidance documents provide useful hypothetical and real examples derived from recent judicial decisions before the Federal Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.

The most recent guidance document is a table of Subject Matter Eligibility Court Decisions, which provides patent applicants with a quick reference chart that concisely lists cases in chronological order, indicating the patents / applications in issue as well as the judicial conclusion as it related to the particular claims in question of each case.