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ARTICLE · 20 JUNE 2014

Supreme Court Decision Alert - June 19, 2014

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Patent Act—Patent Eligibility of Computer-Implemented Inventions; Internal Revenue Service—Investigatory Summonses—Right to Evidentiary Hearing

United StatesLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration

Today the Supreme Court issued two decisions, described below, of interest to the business community.

  • Patent Act—Patent Eligibility of Computer-Implemented Inventions
  • Internal Revenue Service—Investigatory Summonses—Right to Evidentiary Hearing

Patent Act—Patent Eligibility of Computer-Implemented Inventions

Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, No. 13-298 (described in the December 6, 2013, Docket Report)

Section 101 of the Patent Act broadly defines the scope of patent eligibility to include "any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof." 35 U.S.C. § 101. But the Supreme Court has long recognized an implied exception for laws of nature, physical phenomena, and abstract ideas, because granting a patent monopoly for these "building blocks" of human ingenuity would impede innovation.

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