The Supreme Court denied certiorari in Rideshare Displays’ challenge to the Federal Circuit’s invalidation of vehicle identification system patents under Section 101, where the court also declined to follow the USPTO’s own eligibility guidelines.
The Supreme Court denied certiorari in USAA’s challenge to the Federal Circuit’s invalidation of mobile check deposit patents under Alice, leaving the abstract-idea framework unchanged despite broad industry support for review.
The Supreme Court held unanimously that software claims directed to the abstract idea of intermediated settlement, implemented on a generic computer, are patent-ineligible under §101, and articulated the two-step Alice/Mayo framework now universally applied to §101 analysis.
The Supreme Court held unanimously that patent claims directed to natural correlations between drug metabolite levels and therapeutic efficacy are patent-ineligible laws of nature, even when combined with conventional application steps, and established the foundational two-step Mayo framework.
The Supreme Court held that the machine-or-transformation test is a useful but not exclusive test for patent eligibility under §101, and affirmed rejection of Bilski’s risk-hedging claims as unpatentable abstract ideas.