IP Law Groups Ask Congress to Fix Patent Eligibility

Congress needs to step in and fix the law that determines what kinds of inventions are eligible for patent protection, the leaders of three intellectual property law associations said at a conference on innovation in financial services.

The American Bar Association’s IP law section, the IP Owner’s Association, and the American IP Law Association (AIPLA) in a joint position paper July 25 outlined ways they say Congress should improve Section 101 of the patent statute, which sets the benchmark for patent eligibility.

Right now, abstract ideas, laws of nature, and natural phenomena aren’t eligible for protection. But practitioners say these ...