Government’s Delay Pushes Patent Eligibility Out of SCOTUS Term

Patent attorneys hoping the U.S. Supreme Court would answer their questions about patent eligibility this term are likely to be disappointed.

The court asked the federal government in May to weigh in on a case dealing with noisy driveshafts that deeply divided the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on when an invention is patent-eligible.

The Office of the Solicitor General didn’t file the brief by its informal deadline of December, which would have allowed the justices time to consider the case during the current term expected to end in June.

The high court hasn’t considered a case ...