Cooper and Devaney Talk Alice and Patent Eligibility with Bloomberg BNA

Shook, Hardy & Bacon Associates Andrew Cooper and James Devaney discussed the lessons to be learned from the 2014 Alice v. CLS Bank ruling by the Supreme Court in an article authored for Bloomberg BNA’s Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal.

The Alice v. CLS Bank case presented the issue of abstract ideas being ineligible for patent protection. Because “various post-Alice decisions created a minefield of potential considerations when addressing patent eligibility,” Cooper and Devaney give five quick lessons to learn from Alice, including that software remains patent eligible and general purpose computer claims are now suspect.

The authors also discuss that even though the patent system is currently being cleared of all ineligible patents, rightful patent owners should feel encouraged because the new U.S. Patent and Trademark Office guidelines set out new rules and regulations for all electronic technologies.