High Court Won’t Review Mail-Delivery Patent Axed as Abstract

The US Supreme Court rejected a patent owner’s petition to revisit its test for distinguishing between patent-eligible inventions and abstract ideas that don’t merit protection.

Alabama-based Return Mail Inc. sued the United States in 2011, alleging the US Postal Service’s system for processing undeliverable mail after a change of address infringed claims from US Patent No. 6,826,548. The high court in 2019 ruled the government lacked standing to challenge Return Mail’s patents at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, which had separately invalidated key parts of the patent.

The US Court of Federal Claims subsequently categorized the patent as ...