"Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title."

It seems the best Supreme Court decisions are those that critics on either end of the spectrum disapprove of. The most recent example of this phenomenon may be the decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International et al. (Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'l, supra, 134 S.Ct. 2347.) The Court affirmed the ruling by the district court that Alice's patent claims are invalid because they relate to "the abstract idea of 'employing a neutral intermediary to facilitate simultaneous exchange of obligations in order to minimize risk [in financial transactions].'" (Id. at 2353, quoting CLS Bank Int'l v. Alice Corp. Pty, Ltd. (2011) 768 F.Supp.2d 221, 252.)

1. Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International: Procedural history