Insights
Client Alert
Supreme Court to Decide if Business Methods and Software are Patentable Under 35 U.S.C. § 101
June 09, 2009
Stephen Korniczky, Amy Simpson and Ryan Hawkins
On Monday, June 1, 2009, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in the matter of Bilski v. Doll, agreeing for the first time since 1981, to address the scope of patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101 and promising to resolve an issue that has plagued the patent community. For the past 30 years, the question of whether business method and software innovations should qualify for patent protection has been debated among software and financial services industries alike. This controversy peaked in October 2008 when the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit released its landmark and highly controversial In re Bilski decision.