⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Federal Circuit hears Brightex Bio-Photonics versus L’Oréal USA. Brightex sued L’Oréal over a patent on computerized skin-treatment recommendations. The claimed method guides a user in photographing their face, measures skin features, compares them with population data, and recommends treatment for the most severe features. A California federal court dismissed the infringement claim at the pleading stage, before trial, finding the asserted patent claims ineligible for protection. Brightex is appealing that dismissal. Section 101 sets out the kinds of inventions eligible for patents, but courts exclude abstract ideas. Under the Supreme Court’s Alice test, courts ask whether a claim is directed to an abstract idea and, if so, whether its additional elements, alone or combined, supply an inventive concept rather than just implementing that idea on a computer. Brightex will argue that its photo guide and measurement process provide a specific technical improvement, and that disputed facts made dismissal premature. Ramsey Al-Salam will represent L’Oréal, which maintains that the patent merely automates conventional skin assessment using generic technology.

Brightex Bio-Photonics, LLC v. L'Oreal USA, Inc. (No. 25-1835) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, argued October 7, 2026.