EFF: The Supreme Court Should Confirm, Again, that Abstract Software Patents Don’t Need a Trial to be Proved Invalid
The Supreme Court Should Confirm, Again, that Abstract Software Patents Don’t Need a Trial to be Proved Invalid This year, we celebrated the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Alice v. CLS Bank . Alice made clear that generic computers do not make abstract ideas eligible for patent protection. Following the decision, district courts across the country started rejecting ineligible abstract patents at early stages of litigation. That has enabled independent software developers and small businesses to fight meritless infringement allegations without taking on the staggering costs and risks of patent litigation. In other words , Alice has made the patent system better at doing what it is supposed to do: promote technological innovation and economic growth. Unfortunately, Alice ’s pro-innovation effects are already in danger. As we’ve explained before, the Federal Circuit’s decision in Berkheimer v. HP Inc. turns Alice upside-down by treating the legal q...