The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently addressed the critical issue of when certain inventions implemented using a computer are eligible for patent protection. In CLS Bank Int'l v. Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd., 717 F.3d 1269 (Fed. Cir. May 10, 2013), a sharply divided en banc court issued an opinion affirming, without analysis, that patent claims directed to a computerized platform for conducting financial transactions were not patent-eligible under § 101 of the Patent Act.
The 10 participating judges issued six opinions, none of which garnered majority support. As Chief Judge Randall Rader explained, "No portion of any opinion issued today other than our Per Curiam Judgment garners a majority.…[N]othing said today beyond our judgment has the weight of precedent." Id. at 1292 n.1. Indeed, the conflicting opinions may have left the issue even more unsettled than before.
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