In following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, it would seem blatantly obvious that mere abstract ideas are ineligible for registration as software patents.
Conforming to 'Alice test', in July 2015, the Federal Circuit court deemed two patents owned by Intellectual Ventures, invalid in the case of Intellectual Ventures I LLC et al. v. Capital One NA. One patent was for a budgeting application and the other for the design of web pages for advertising. One patent was even named 'Administration of Financial Accounts'.
However obvious, it is difficult to take the court ruling at face value where it tried to distinguish DDR Holdings. In addition, business methods routinely are viewed as ineligible for patenting.
Patent owners and applicants must acknowledge the irrevocable change brought about by the Alice case. Hence, the trend toward holding of patent ineligibility is unlikely to die down, much less be reversed.
The Knowledge Group has assembled a panel of key thought leaders and practitioners to provide a two-hour, LIVE Webcast entitled Patentability of Software Patents: Emerging Strategies for Attorneys in 2016. The panel of speakers will help the audience understand the important aspects of this significant topic and offer best practices in mitigating risks and ensuring compliance with patent laws.
Key issues that will be covered in this course are: