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BY Howard J. Shire
May 31, 2013

Software Patent Does Not Qualify As Patent-Eligible Subject Matter

On May 10, 2013, the Federal Circuit in CLS Bank International v. Alice Corporation (2011-1301), issued an en banc per curiam order affirming the district court's ruling that Alice's software patents were not directed to patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. ' 101. Per Curiam Order at 6-7. Alice's patents related to financial-services software that reduced settlement risk by facilitating a trade through third-party intermediation. Lourie Op. at 10. Meanwhile, the claims in Alice's patents were of three types: 1) method claims, 2) computer-readable medium claims, and 3) system claims. Id. at 2-4.

The per curiam order is the only precedential portion of the decision; no precedential decision was reached with respect to any other issue. See Id. at 2, n. 1. Seven of the 10 judges found that the method and computer-readable medium claims were not patent-eligible subject matter. However, only five judges found that the system claims were not patent-eligible subject matter. Id. Furthermore, eight judges agreed that all three types of claims “should rise or fall together in the ' 101 analysis.” Id.

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