By Jason Rantanen
Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International (2014)
Download opinion here: Alice v CLS
This morning the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Alice, unanimously affirming the Federal Circuit and finding all claims drawn to patent ineligible subject matter under Section 101. Justice Thomas wrote for the opinion for the Court. It begins:
The question presented is whether these claims are patent eligible under 35 U. S. C. §101, or are instead drawn to a patent-ineligible abstract idea. We hold that the claims at issue are drawn to the abstract idea of intermediated settlement, and that merely requiring generic computer implementation fails to transform that abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention.
The opinion includes both the actual language of representative claims (in a footnote) and the court's interpretation of them (in the body of the opinion).
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