Free for a Fee

For the first time in almost 30 years, the U.S. Supreme Court on
Monday considered the issue of what types of technology should be
eligible for patent protection when it heard oral arguments in Bilski v. Kappos.

Across the board, the justices indicated a deep skepticism toward the
invention described in the patent application at issue, which was
rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and describes a method
for trading commodities. Some of the justices went even
further—expressing both a fair amount of disdain for the idea of
granting broad “method” patents and a concern that ruling in favor of
the petitioners would lead to patent grants on fundamental ways of
conducting business or organizing human behavior.

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