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Article: The Federal Circuit Limits The Scope Of Patentable Subject Matter For Mental Processes And Signals.
- Article from:
- Mondaq Business Briefing
- Article date:
- October 29, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Mondaq Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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On September 20, 2007, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its decision in In re Stephen W. Comisky, No. 2006-1286 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 20, 2007). This decision limits the arguable scope of the State Street Bank decision by requiring a pure mental process be connected to a machine (e.g., a computer) in order for a claim to recite subject matter that can be patentable, under the so-called section 101. As a result of this decision, patent drafters and inventors of mental processes will be required to combine a particular technology such as a computer with such mental processes for the subject matter to meet the statutory requirement of patentable subject matter. ...