Law360
June 28, 2010
"IP Lawyers React to Bilski's Long-Awaited Arrival"
Farella Braun + Martel intellectual property litigation partner John Cooper commented on the U.S. Supreme Court Bilski ruling that business methods are eligibility for patent protection.
John L. Cooper
Farella Braun + Martel LLP
The Supreme Court's overturning of the Federal Circuit's machine-or-transformation test is an important event for Information Age innovators. The patent-eligibility of technologies such as digital signal processing and data compression, which had perhaps inadvertently been called into doubt by the Federal Circuit, has been restored to its prior state. The court expressly confirmed that "new technologies may call for new inquiries," and reminded us that applications of laws of nature and mathematical formulas to known structures and processes remain patentable under Diehr.
While chalking up these significant wins to Information Age innovators, the court dealt a serious blow to business method patents that might arguably claim "basic concepts" and "fundamental economic practices" such as with the risk hedging claims of Bilski.