Diamond v. Bradley

It has been more than a quarter of a century since the Supreme Court issued a substantive opinion concerning 35 USC section 101 — Diamond v. Diehr.  On the same day that the Court heard the oral argument in Diamond v. Diehr, it also heard a companion case in Diamond v. BradleyDiamond v. Bradley concerned 35 USC section 101 in the context of an apparatus claim for a computer.  Chief Justice Burger took no part in the decision which resulted in a 4-4 split decision by the remaining eight justices.  As a result, the CCPA’s judgment was affirmed.

Obviously, computing has advanced significantly in the last quarter of a century.  However, the following sound bite truly puts that advancement in perspective. [Listen]  (“[W]ord processors — you know, those machines that are replacing typewriters in offices.”)

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