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Article: "In re Bilski": Federal Circuit affirms patent office in narrowing scope of patentable subject matter.
- Article from:
- Mondaq Business Briefing
- Article date:
- November 5, 2008
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 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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In a much anticipated en banc decision in In re Bilski, the Federal Circuit has affirmed the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences in rejecting all pending claims of a patent application directed to a method of hedging risk in the field of commodities trading.
The issue presented on appeal was whether the "process" claimed in the Bilski patent application constituted patent-eligible subject matter under the U.S. patent laws (specifically, Section 101 of Title 35 of the U.S. Code). Section 101 provides that "any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter" is eligible for patent protection. This section has been interpreted to ...