On April 18, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision in Recentive Analytics, Inc. v. Fox Corp., invalidating under Section 101 of the Patent Act and the two-step Alice test patents using machine learning models. The Federal Circuit acknowledged that “[m]achine learning is a burgeoning and increasingly important field and may lead to patent-eligible improvements in technology.” Nevertheless, the Federal Circuit held that “patents that do no more than claim the application of generic machine learning to new data environments, without disclosing improvements to the machine learning models to be applied, are patent ineligible under § 101.” Although some district courts had previously found claims on machine learning methods patent-ineligible, the Federal Circuit recognized that this case presented “a question of first impression” under its precedent.

Since taking office, the Trump administration has significantly curtailed the CFPB’s rulemaking and enforcement activity. Recently, Congress and federal courts have been grappling with what that means for CFPB employees and the rules the CFPB has enacted and enforces. On April 9, 2025, the United States House of Representatives voted to pass a joint resolution disapproving a CFPB rule that would make certain large payment companies subject to Regulations E and Z. The same day, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments to resolve a TRO that would maintain the existence of the CFPB as it stood before the administration change. What does this mean for you and your clients?