Alerts

Supreme Court May Decide Scope of Subject Matter Eligible for Business Method Patent Protection

November 3, 2005

In a case that will likely have huge ramifications for the scope of business method patents, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed this week to take a case that will decide the validity of a patent arguably covering a basic scientific relationship or natural phenomenon. The Supreme Court only infrequently agrees to hear cases involving patent or other intellectual property matters, so each case the Court accepts is very closely watched. The Supreme Court has, in the past, ruled that one cannot patent laws of nature, natural phenomena and abstract ideas.