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Bilski v. Kappos: Business Methods Survive

06-28-2010 [Ben Hanrahan] [Permalink]

Earlier today the Supreme Court issued its opinion in the highly anticipated case of Bilski v. Kappos involving the fate of business method patents.  The Supreme Court opinion can be obtained here. 

Briefly, the Court refused to categorically exclude business methods from the scope of patentable subject matter set forth in 35 U.S.C. 101.  The Court further declined to impose limitations on the Patent Act that are inconsistent with its text stating that the "machine-or-transformation" test is not the sole test for determining patent eligibility under Section 101:

The Court is unaware of any "ordinary, contemporary, common meaning," of the definitional terms "process, art or method" that would require those terms to be tied to a machine or transform an article. 

Nevertheless, the Court acknowledges that the "machine-or-transformation test is a useful and important clue, and investigative tool, for determining whether some claimed inventions are processes under §101."