Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Summer 2009
Journal
Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property
Volume
7
Issue
3
First Page
332
Last Page
341
Abstract
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's (CAFC) en banc decision, In re Bilski, redefined the standard for patenting processes including business methods and computer software. In Bilski, the Federal Circuit departed from the "useful, concrete, and tangible result" test it had established in State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. SignatureFinancialGroup,Inc., which had been the standard for the past ten years. The Federal Circuit returned to a test articulated nearly 40 years ago by the Supreme Court in Gottschalk v. Benson, and clarified that State Street was "never intended to supplant the Supreme Court's test.", Under this revived Supreme Court test, to be patent-eligible a claimed process must 1) be tied to a particular machine or apparatus or 2) transform a particular article into a different state or thing.
Recommended Citation
Charles Duan, Lauren Katzenellenbogen & James Skelley,
Alternative Software Protection in View of In re Bilski,
7
Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property
332
(2009).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/facsch_lawrev/2183