[情報] In Re Bilski: Business Method Paten …
In Re Bilski: Business Method Patents Trudge On
On the last day of its October 2009 term, more than seven months after oral
argument, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in In re
Bilski. Justice Kennedy delivered the majority opinion affirming the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s decision that Bilski’s claims,
directed to a method of managing risk in connection with commodity hedging,
were not eligible for patenting under Section 101. However, the majority
declined to hold as a general rule that business method patents (BMPs) were,
as a class, unpatentable subject matter, and reversed the Federal Circuit’s
ruling that “machine or transformation” was the “sole test” for patent
eligibility. Rather, the Supreme Court reiterated a broad view of
patent-eligible subject matter tempered by long-established exclusions for “
laws of nature, physical phenomena and abstract ideas” although it declined
to further define what constitutes a patent “process.” The Supreme Court
also explained “machine or transformation” was never intended to be an
exhaustive or exclusive test, but only a “clue” as to what might be
patentable subject matter.
In rejecting a categorical exclusion for business methods under Section 101,
the majority noted the broad language of the section “may include at least
some methods of doing business.” Citing Section 273 of the Patent Act, the
Supreme Court found that Congress had endorsed business methods as
patent-eligible subject matter when it enacted a prior user defense to such
patents. The court did not endorse broad patentability for business methods,
but noted “the possibility that there are at least some processes that can
be fairly described as business methods that are within patentable subject
matter under §101.”
In rejecting the Federal Circuit’s “machine or transformation” test as the
exclusive test for patent eligibility for process claims, the Supreme Court
found that the test imposed limitations inconsistent with the broad text,
purpose and design of Section 101. Courts “should not read into the patent
laws limitations and conditions which the legislature has not expressed.”
As for Bilski’s claims, relying on Benson, Flook and Diehr, the Supreme
Court concluded the claims are directed to an “abstract idea,” and
ineligible for patenting on that basis. The court indicated that the claims
sought “a monopoly over an abstract idea,” and that other claims merely
added “token postsolution components” that failed to establish
patentability.
A concurrence written by retiring Justice Stevens, in which Justices
Ginsburg, Breyer and Sotomayor joined, would have excluded business method
patents altogether. These four justices argued that “a general method of
engaging in business transactions” should not be considered a
patent-eligible process. Breyer also wrote a concurring opinion, in which
Justice Scalia joined in part.
Practice Note
The patent bar will likely view today’s decision as a narrow ruling that
maintains a degree of viability for BMPs. Those who had hoped for a decision
that would effectively eliminate both BMPS and software patents are likely
disappointed. All eyes now shift back to the Federal Circuit and to the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office as each determines how it will implement the
Supreme Court’s decision.
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以後商業方法不知道還可不可以得到專利...嘖嘖...
Supreme Court decision just issued on June 28
Comments from "End Software Patents" blog
http://en.swpat.org/wiki/Bilski:_analysis_of_Supreme_Court_decision
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