The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit published an opinion last week in the CLS vs Alice case. You’ll recall this was a crucial hearing that has the potential to decide whether software is patentable in the USA.

The opinion published by the court — sitting en banc with all but one of the Circuit’s judges represented — found that the software in question was not a patentable subject. That’s very good news and if the finding stands could strike at the heart of the software patent problem.

But the story isn’t over here. The document actually includes six separate opinions by different groups of the judges. A majority of them were able to agree to the overall court verdict, but it is clearly inconclusive. As a consequence, it seems almost certain this finding will itself be appealed to the US Supreme Court. So celebrate, but hold back a little – it’s not over yet.