Patents have long been a key component of the innovation engine driving the most dynamic sectors of our economy. But in 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court in a landmark patent case (Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International) threw a wrench into the innovation engine.
At the time it was issued, the decision prompted many legal experts to predict chaos at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and to conclude that inventions in some technology sectors, including e-commerce and fin-tech, might be largely excluded from patent protection. Unfortunately, that is exactly what has happened. Post-Alice, the rejection rate for new payment technologies, for example, went above 90 percent.
