www.EmploymentCrossing.com

 

A federal appeals court has issued a rare full-court opinion that restricts the patent protection of business methods, according to the Legal Times.

 

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled 9-3 that methods or processes cannot be patented unless they are tied to a machine or involve a physical transformation. Lawyers closely watching the case, In re Bilski, say the opinion brings the Federal Circuit more in tune with the tenor of recent Supreme Court precedent, which has sided against patent owners.

 

Bernard Bilski and Rand Warsaw sought to patent a method of hedging risk in commodities trading. But the Patent Office rejected their application, and the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences affirmed that decision.

 

Chief Judge Paul Michel wrote the opinion in Bilski, which affirmed the board's decision. The case had generated substantial interest across the country because of the potential impact on the explosive growth in business method patents, especially in the financial services and e-commerce industries. More than 100 lawyers -- and their firms -- are identified on the first four pages of the opinion.

 

One judge who dissented argued the majority opinion did not go far enough in restricting business-method patents, writing that the patent system "is intended to protect and promote advances in science and technology, not ideas about how to structure commercial transactions."

 

Lawyers say it will take additional cases to determine the ramifications of the Bilski decision.

 

For more information click here