[ScottBurson]

> I think that would be the sounder public policy

Excellent! I think you're the first person here who has agreed with me :-) It seems like a subtle tweak, perhaps, to many people, but I think it would make a huge difference. Rayiner thinks it's unnecessary after Alice, but I'm not convinced; subject matter is a different aspect of the problem. (Also, though I welcome the effects that Alice is having, I'm not sure I think it's correct. The problem is that word "abstract". As software engineers, we know that abstraction is a hierarchy, and the abstract/concrete distinction is not absolute but is relative to the level within that hierarchy that one is speaking at. Any idea, in short, can be argued to be abstract.)

> keeping in mind of course that the patent examiner is a neutral expert

A neutral expert, but also one whose incentive structure encourages them to close cases. They don't get bonuses for fighting off obstinate applicants with bad patents.