Patent Eligibility Case Needs Supreme Court Review, DOJ Says

A case dealing with noisy driveshafts that deeply divided the Federal Circuit on when an invention is patent-eligible should be taken up by the US Supreme Court, the solicitor general recommended in a brief.

The government’s recommendation, filed Tuesday, could mean that attorneys and courts might finally get more guidance from the high court on how to draw the line between an unpatentable idea and a patentable application of an idea. Judges, practitioners, and other stakeholders have begged for clarity on the issue ever since the Supreme Court last took up a patent eligibility case in 2014.

The Federal ...