Would be helpful if you cited the case, since patent law is an interesting example of a lower tier court going around the supreme court. It was pretty clear (except maybe to a lawyer) with Gottschalk v. Benson that software should not be patented, but that never stopped the federal circuit from working around that little problem... (<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ipwatchdog.com&#x2F;2012&#x2F;03&#x2F;20&#x2F;supreme-court-mayo-v-prometheus&#x2F;id=22920&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ipwatchdog.com&#x2F;2012&#x2F;03&#x2F;20&#x2F;supreme-court-mayo-v-pr...</a>)