Supreme Court Docket Report - December 6, 2013

Today (December 6, 2013), the Supreme Court granted certiorari in one case of interest to the business community:

Patent Act—Patent Eligibility of Computer-Implemented Inventions

Section 101 of the Patent Act provides that "[w]hoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title." 35 U.S.C. § 101. Laws of nature, physical phenomena, and abstract ideas, however, are exempt from this provision; the Supreme Court has long held that granting such a patent monopoly would improperly preempt the use of these fundamental principles. Today, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, No. 13-298, to consider whether certain patent claims that are implemented through the use of a computer are eligible for patent protection.