Can You Patent a Business Process?: Supreme Court decision still leaves us wondering

Amazon's one-click ordering. Priceline's reverse auction. All are patented - but should they be. Here is a great analysis of the widely watched Bilski case decision from Chris O'Brien, a columnist with the San Jose Mercury News. Read:

O'Brien: Supreme Court decision still leaves us wondering: What can we patent? - San Jose Mercury News

Rather than clear guidelines, the Supremes seemed to render a split-decision more akin to the end of a bad boxing bout. Still, it is the first decision on so-called "business methods," and it does provide some guidance on how vague a claim can be to be considered validly patentable.

This is an area to watch, as no doubt, there will be much activity in the coming years in this area.

David

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