This note provides an update on Section 101 patent-eligibility legislation pending in Congress. On July 14, 2026, the Senate Judiciary Committee held its first full-committee hearing on S. 1546, the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2025 (“PERA”). Co-Sponsored by Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE), PERA would eliminate all judicially created exceptions to patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 and replace them with defined statutory exclusions, leaving Sections 102, 103, and 112 (novelty, nonobviousness, and disclosure) unchanged. The bill addresses only the threshold eligibility question.

On August 12, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware issued an opinion granting plaintiff Microsoft Corporation’s (“Microsoft”) motion for judgment on the pleadings related to infringement counterclaims brought by SynKloud Technologies, LLC (“SynKloud”).  SynKloud Techs. LLC v. HP, Inc., et al., No. 19-1360-RGA (D. Del. Aug. 12, 2021).  The Court ruled that the patents at issue related to the patent-ineligible abstract idea of “requesting an institution to obtain data from remote locations and to store that data in storage space assigned to a specific user.”

On July 1, 2020, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued an opinion vacating and remanding the decision of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida denying attorney fees following a judgment of patent invalidity under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Electronic Communication Techs., LLC v. ShoppersChoice.com, LLC, F.3d (Fed. Cir. July 1, 2020).