Encryption seems to be in the news quite a bit lately. Electronic retailers and government organizations have become targets of computer hackers across the globe, attacking their servers and obtaining sensitive information in the process. Indeed, the United States recently withdrew several spies from China over a data breach that could have compromised the safety of the spies by revealing their true identity. With this in mind, computer scientists and mathematicians work tirelessly to develop more advanced encryption algorithms to stay ahead of the hackers. But are these algorithms patentable under Alice and its progeny?

Two cases illustrate both sides of this coin. In short, courts are reluctant to find patentable the routine implementation of encryption on existing computer technology. However, developing a new encryption algorithm altogether is more likely to obtain patent protection.