News
Supreme Court Rule on Bilski
On 28th June 2010, the US Supreme Court delivered its opinion in the Bilski v. Kappos case. The Court affirmed the Federal Circuits decision to reject Bilski’s patent application which related to a method of hedging risks, however the Court stopped far short of rejecting business method and software patents generally as some had feared.
Although this case was specifically concerned with hedging financial risks and was therefore very much in the business method domain, it had wide ranging implications for software patents and other areas of technology also. The Court held the opinion that the Bilski patent should not be granted on the grounds that the patent application related to an abstract idea which was not patentable subject matter. The Court went on to say that the “machine or transformation” test espoused by the Federal Circuit was not the only applicable test and that other tests could equally well be used. This is a relaxation of the position taken by the Federal Circuit and essentially reinstates the position prior to the Federal Circuits ruling in Bilski.
The Supreme Court was clear however that their opinion should not be interpreted as either a constriction or relaxation of the law relating to the patentability of business method patents. To sum it up in a sentence, it’s business as usual.