Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International
United States Supreme Court
573 U.S. 208 (2014)
Relevant factsFree
Alice (defendant) held patents on a computerized method for using a third party to mitigate settlement risk in financial transactions — a practice known as intermediated settlement that predates computers by centuries; CLS Bank (plaintiff) sought a declaratory judgment that the patents were invalid as claiming an unpatentable abstract idea, and the district court and Federal Circuit both ruled for CLS Bank.
IssueFree
Whether a patent claim involving an abstract idea is patentable if the balance of the claim does not add something of significance to the idea or transform it into a new and useful end.