I. INTRODUCTION Since the creation of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 1982, the Supreme Court has largely refrained from reviewing patent cases. (1) However, beginning last Term, the Court has shown renewed interest in patent cases, (2) perhaps motivated by several concerns. The Court may have noticed an increase in "intra-circuit splits" (3) in the Federal Circuit. The generalist Supreme Court may have wanted to keep the specialist Federal Circuit from "stray[ing]" too far afield. (4) The Court has also expressed concerns that the increasing prominence of business method patents might have created "too much patent protection," (5) especially for "firms [that] use patents not as a basis for producing and selling goods but, instead, primarily for obtaining licensing fees." (6)
