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Supreme Court hedges on business method patents
Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes' bio below.
Those who hoped the Supreme Court today would finally end the scourge of so-called business method patents will have to wait a little longer.
In the closely watched case of Bilski v. Kappos, the justices on Monday agreed with a lower court and the Patent Office that a claimed system to hedge energy prices using weather projections was merely an "abstract idea" ineligible for patent protection. (See PDF of ruling.)
But the court could not agree on a general prohibition for business method patents urged by … Read more
