In re Freeman’s Empirical Analysis
573 F.2d 1237 · 1978
Citation profile
6 federal appellate · 3 district ·
How this case has been cited
Cited by 59 later decisions (2 by the Supreme Court) — most recently May 2019 · most notably Diamond v. Diehr (1981), Parker v. Flook (1978)
6 federal appellate · 3 district ·
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Applies 35 U.S.C. § 100 · 35 U.S.C. § 101 · 35 U.S.C. § 103 · 35 U.S.C. § 112
Relies on Graham v. John Deere Company of Kansas City Calmar Inc · Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. v. Supermarket Equipment Corp. · Gottschalk v. Benson · Sakraida v. Ag Pro, Inc. · Meers v. Sundstrand Corp.
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 59 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Determination of whether a claim preempts nonstatutory subject matter as a whole, in the light of Benson , requires a two-step analysis. First, it must be determined whether the claim directly or indirectly recites an “algorithm” in the Benson sense of that term, for a claim which fails even to recite an algorithm clearly cannot wholly preempt an algorithm. Second, the claim must be further analyzed to ascertain whether in its entirety it wholly preempts that algorithm.”
7 later decisions quote this exact passage“Over-concentration on the word “algorithm” alone, for example, may mislead. The Supreme Court carefully supplied a definition of the particular algorithm before it [in Benson ], i.e., “[a] procedure for solving a given type of mathematical problem.” The broader definition of algorithm is “a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or accomplishing some end.” Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (1976). ... It would be unnecessarily detrimental to our patent system to deny inventors patent protection on the sole ground that their contribution could be broadly termed an “algorithm”. [Emphasis of “sole” original, otherwise ours.]”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage“The preferred definition of “algorithm” in the computer art is: “A fixed step-by-step procedure for accomplishing a given result; usually a simplified procedure for solving a complex problem, also a full statement of a finite number of steps.” C. Sippl & C. Sippl, Computer Dictionary and Handbook (1972).”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.