Professor Lefstin’s Research Referenced in Federal Patent-Eligibility Case
Judge S. Jay Plager of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit cited Professor Jeffrey A. Lefstin’s work on the history of the patent-eligible subject matter doctrine, in his decision for Interval Licensing LLC v. AOL, Inc., (Fed. Cir. 2018).
In his opinion, concurring-in-part and dissenting-in-part with the decision that affirms Rule 12 judgment on the pleadings of invalidity for claims directed to patent-ineligible subject matter, Judge Plager writes:
“Those who are familiar with the history of the Patent Act, when in 1952 the law of patenting was given a major statutory overhaul, will be the most puzzled. Is it the case that now, some 65 years later, we really have resurrected the concept of an ‘inventive concept’?”
Judge Plager references the UC Law SF Professor by noting, “For the history buffs, see Jeffrey A. Lefstin, Inventive Application: A History, 67 Fla. L. Rev. 565, 572–77 (2015).”
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