WASHINGTON (June 19, 2014) – The R Street Institute welcomed today’s unanimous decision by the Supreme Court in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, which ruled that patents filed by Alice Corp. regarding its abstract ideas are not legitimate.

“While this decision was more narrow than some had hoped, in that it does not fundamentally overturn the notion that software is patentable, we are encouraged that the court expanded the reasoning it used in Bilski v. Kappos to rule a broader category of abstract ideas are not eligible for patent protection,” R Street Senior Fellow R.J. Lehmann said.

“The U.S. Constitution offers limited monopoly rights to inventors to provide incentive for progress in sciences and the useful arts, but too often in recent years, overly broad and inappropriately granted patents have been used as the basis of litigation that has choked the courts and stifled innovation,” Lehmann added. “This decision offers a step in the direction of reform, but comprehensive action by Congress is still needed to address these problems.”

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