Patents directed to computer software are not inherently abstract under 35 U.S.C. Sec. 101. For the first time since the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Alice v. CLS Bank the Federal Circuit in Enfish v. Microsoft found that a software patent was not directed to an abstract concept. The Court moreover held unequivocally that improvements in software can be as patent-eligible as improvements to the machines that run the software under the Alice test for patent eligibility.
My article takes an in-depth look at Enfish and offers thoughts on whether this decision can serve as a guiding light for distinguishing patent-eligible from abstract concepts in software.
