Software Patent for Summarizing Data Survives Invalidity Attack

In the case of Versata Software, Inc. v. Zoho Corporation, A-13-CA-00371-SS, (W.D. TX October 26, 2015), the court held a software invention to be patent-eligible as not being drawn to an abstract idea. This case is interesting because many courts have struggled to articulate what constitutes an abstract idea when analyzing the validity of software patents. Many courts, left without a clear test, commonly hold software inventions to be drawn to an abstract idea and focus on the second step (i.e. is there “something more” than the abstract idea) from Alice to truly determine whether the invention is patent eligible. The Versata case shows that some courts may be more willing to let software patents survive by taking a more critical view of whether the invention is indeed drawn to an abstract idea.

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