Patent Law

Strafford Publications is hosting a live 90-minute CLE teleconference with interactive Q&A on December 4, 2008.

The Federal Circuit's Oct. 30 ruling in In re Bilski that pure business methods cannot be patented effectively overrules the standard the court had previously established in State Street Bank in 1998 by abandoning its "useful, concrete and tangible result" test.

According to Bilski, the Supreme Court's "machine or transformation test" is the only test of subject matter eligibility for process claims. This test may pose a problem for patenting some technologies that do not require a computer or other machine to work.

Under the new standard, a process must either be tied to the use of a machine or be a transformation of something physical to be patentable, which would include a transformation of data that represents something physical.

The panel will review these and other key questions:

    * What guidance does the Federal Circuit provide for applying the "machine or transformation" test?

    * How does the court define a transformation and particular machine under this test?

    * What is the anticipated impact on patent eligibility now ? and on past patent eligibility decisions?

    * What does the decision mean for business method and software patent owners and developers?

More information is available here.  Register by November 21 and save $50.