'Alice' in 2017: Does the PTO's Latest Guidance Clear the Minefield?

The 2014 decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 134 S.Ct. 2347 (2014), provided examiners at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) with ample ammunition to find financial, computer, software and even medical applications ineligible under 35 U.S.C. §101. Software patents are under particular duress, and the challenges patent practitioners currently face at the PTO and in the courts continue to evolve. Recent Federal Circuit decisions, and updated Guidance issued by the USPTO (available online at www.uspto.gov) have provided practitioners with a new roadmap to navigate the minefield left in Alice's wake.

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