Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and the High Tech Inventors Alliance (HTIA) filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in Amgen v. Sanofi, a case involving Section 112 of the Patent Act that could have harmful consequences for innovation in tech fields like software, computing, electronics and telecom if ruled on. The organizations, which represent a diverse group of technology companies, urged the Court to dismiss the case or strongly narrow its opinion to protect innovation in technology.
CCIA and HTIA argue that Amgen v. Sanofi is an ill-suited tool for altering Section 112, which supports the delicate balance of the U.S. patents system by codifying essential disclosure and claim requirements. A ruling on the case risks creating barriers for new tech innovations by upsetting established rules against purely functional claims in patents.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association has advocated for tech policy that advances innovation, including sound patent policy, for over 50 years.
The following can be attributed to Josh Landau:
“The Supreme Court has rejected purely functional claims for more than 150 years. These kinds of claims give inventors more than they discovered and block others from finding new ways to solve a problem, completely upending the purpose of the patent system.
CCIA strongly urges the Court to uphold its longstanding ban on pure functional claims and to interpret such claims to be limited only to the specific ways an inventor has disclosed in their specification.”