By: Mel R. Quintos & Laua Chung
MAY YOU ALL HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!
On November 9, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the landmark business method case of Bilski v. Kappos. The decision of the Court in this case is likely to determine the extent of patent protection afforded to business methods, computer software and other processes in the United States.
At the heart of the appeal pending before the Supreme Court are issues involving: (1) whether the Federal Circuit correctly ruled that a process must be tied to either a particular machine or transform a particular article into a different state or thing to be patent eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101 (a.k.a. “machine-ortransformation test”), and (2) whether a process claim that recites a general purpose computer is tied to a “particular machine,” and is directed to patent eligible subject matter—a crucial issue as many computer programs run on nothing other than a PC–click here to read more—
