Following the wake of Alice v. CLS Bank, the US Patent Office has more than tripled its software patent rejection rate. 24% of software patents were rejected by the office in January of this year, in July the rate rose to 78%. The ruling affected what are known as “business method” patents and essentially stated you can’t take an abstract idea, do it on a computer, and patent it. This ruling has also led to an increase in patent invalidation rates from lower courts, and a reduction in patent lawsuits.
