Best i can tell it is not just that it will be referenced, but that judges on the same tier of court is bound by that decision until a higher tier overrules it.<p>This process btw is how USA effectively got software patents.<p>A corporation or other applied for a patent on a production process that used a computer (and therefore software) to gain more precise control of the results than previous mechanical means.<p>The patent holder was sued over it, and a judge ruled in the patent holders favor.<p>This ruling was then used by other lawyers to press for &quot;process&quot; patents, where the process was described in software.<p>And so far no higher court has overruled the initial ruling, thus effectively USA have software patents.