USPTO Issues New Patent-Eligibility Guidelines
Sunday, December 21, 2014

On December 15, 2014, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued new guidelines for examiners for determination of patent eligibility in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Alice Corp., Myriad, and Mayo. 2014 Interim Guidance on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility (“Guidelines”).  The Guidelines were widely seen as significantly scaling back the restrictions on what is patent eligible compared to the previous guidelines issued in March.  Ironically, the Federal Circuit’s decision in the Myriad case, discussed above, was issued just two days after the new Guidelines, and went in the opposite direction.  If Myriad remains unchanged through further review, the Guidelines may need to be revised again to comport with the Federal Circuit’s more restrictive view.   

 

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