Dive Brief:
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Since a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling against certain software patents, lower Federal courts have increasingly ruled against software patents in suits brought by so-called “patent trolls.”
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In June, in the case CLS v. Alice, the high court essentially said that abstract ideas can’t be patented and that executing an abstract idea on a computer doesn’t make it concrete enough to warrant patent protection.
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The practice of patenting computer systems allowing e-commerce shopping-cart transactions and other retail web activities has led to expensive settlements or court cases for many retailers facing lawsuits from patent trolls.
Dive Insight:
While it’s never clear what the aftermath of Supreme Court rulings may ultimately be, it looks like lower courts are taking a cue from the high court’s treatment of patent assertion entities or patent-licensing companies, also known as “patent trolls.”
Since early July, federal courts have invalidated patents for a web diet tool, a digital photo transfer tool, a retailer rewards points software tool, among others — a total of eleven rejections so far. If this continues, it will ease the bombardment of lawsuits faced by many retailers in defending software they use in e-commerce and other applications, experts say. But still other experts warn the trend could make legitimate protections more difficult as well.
