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Happy Birthday Alice: Four Years Busting Software Patents This week marks the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice v. CLS Bank . In Alice , the court ruled that an abstract idea does not become eligible for a patent simply by being implemented on a generic computer. Now that four years have passed, we know the case’s impact: bad patents went down, and software innovation went up. Lower courts have applied Alice to throw out a rogues’ gallery of abstract software patents. Counting both federal courts and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, there are more than 400 decisions finding patent claims invalid under Alice . These include rulings invalidating patents on playing bingo on a computer, computerized meal plans , updating games , and many more. Some of these patents had been asserted by patent trolls dozens or even hundreds of times. A single ruling threw out 168 cases where a troll claimed that companies infringed a patent on the idea of storing and ...

Border Spy Tech Shouldn’t Be a Requirement for a Path to Citizenship The Border Security and Immigration Reform Act ( H.R. 6136 ), introduced before Congress last week, would offer immigrants a new path to citizenship in exchange for increased high tech government surveillance of citizens and immigrants alike. The bill calls for increased DNA and other biometric screening, updated automatic license plate readers, and expanded social media snooping. It also asks for 24 hours-a-day, five-days-a-week drone surveillance along the southern U.S. border. This bill would give the U.S. Department of Homeland Security broad authority to spy on millions of individuals who live and work as far as 100 miles away from a U.S. border. It would enforce invasive biometric scans on innocent travelers, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status. An Upcoming Vote In mid-June, after months of stalled negotiations and failed legislative proposals, the Republican caucus of the House of Repre...