> Last week, we visited Congress and presented the ’358 patent to staffers there as an example of how important it is to maintain common-sense limits on patentable subject matter. The patent lobby—in the form of the Intellectual Property Owners Association and the American Intellectual Property Law Association—wants Congress to undo Alice through legislation. These groups are pushing to change the law so that everything is eligible for patent protection unless it is “solely in the human mind.” The ’358 patent shows what a disaster such legislation would be. It could make the patent system a kind of “super copyright” where people can monopolize ideas just by putting them on tape.

What did Congress say?