Today the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concluded in a suit against the Chicago Transit Authority that the Authority did not violate the Plaintiffs' patents. From a liberal arts major standpoint, the essence of the case seems to boil down to whether development of a system to use bank cards to replace fare cards is patentable. The answer both in the lower court and at the Federal Circuit is no. SMART SYS. INNOVATIONS, LLC v. CHI. TRANSIT AUTHhttp://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions-orders/16-1233.Opinion.10-13-2017.1.PDF Charles W. Thompson, Jr. Executive Director and General Counsel International Municipal Lawyers Association, Inc. 51 Monroe Street Suite 404 Rockville, Maryland 20850 202-466-5424 x7110 Direct: 202-742-1016 Cell: 240-876-6790 Plan ahead: IMLA's Annual Conference October 14- October 18, 2017 - Niagara, Ontario, Canada (Passport required) To register, go to: http://imla.org/events/conferences#registration IMLA's Annual Seminar and Section 1983 Defense Conference - April 20- April 23, 2018 Washington, DC