05.10.2013

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Updates

On May 10, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit released its much-awaited en banc decision in CLS Bank International v. Alice Corp.  A majority of the court affirmed a district court's holding that Alice's claims are not directed to patent-eligible subject matter under 35 USC § 101.  Prior to this en banc decision, the Federal Circuit had decided that the claims were patent eligible, thereby overruling the district court's decision that Alice's claims "are directed to an abstract idea" or "would preempt the use of the abstract idea."  Alice's patented claims are directed to the management of risk as it relates to specified, yet unknown, future events, e.g., a computerized trading platform that settles obligations between parties to eliminate "counterparty" or "settlement" risks.  A full analysis of the decision will come in a future client update.
 

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