Business Method Patents and 35 U.S.C. § 101 (a synopsis)
35 U.S.C. 101 Inventions patentable.
"Whoever
invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture,
or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof,
may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and
requirements of this title." In the recent past, software was not patentable. The prevailing
rationale was that computer code was not patentable subject matter
because it primarily involved intellectual steps. However,
computer related innovation was a great driving force of the world
economy. The policy of protecting intellectual property drives the redefinition
of patentable subject matter. Section 101 of the patent statute,
covers patentable subject matter. The Untied States left the age of steam engines and steel manufacturing
decades ago. As our world matures into the information age, the
patent system must find some way to protect new forms of innovation.
In 1996, the United States Patent Office took matters into their own
hands and decided to treat software as patentable, and then later
methods of doing business on a computer the same as any other computer
process patent. None of these patents were carefully scrutinized
until the State Street Bank case in the summer of 1999. The United
States Federal Circuit Court of Appeals held in State Street Bank &
Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc. that business
models were patentable. Before this case, "methods of doing
business" were not considered patentable subject matter.
The PTO then issued thousands of pure business method patents
over the years, some having no computer element involved. More
recently, business method patents were struck down as not
patentable in In re Bilski, 545 F.3d 943, 88 U.S.P.Q.2d 1385 (Fed. Cir.
2008), United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC)
which was a 180 degree trun from the State
Street Bank ruling over a decade ago. The Supreme Court is set to rule on the matter, and is expected to rule that pure business method patents are not patentable any more, though software is.
Current as of Jan, 2010.
Note also: One may not patent nuclear bombs. See Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 42 U.S.C. 2181 (a).
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