Supreme Court to Hear Bilski Case

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on November 9, 2009 in the case of Bilski v. Kappos (previously Bilski v. Doll). The Court will decide whether the Federal Circuit erred in its application of the "machine-or-transformation" test, thereby limiting meaningful patent protection to many business methods. The case could have wide reaching consequences for inventors and patent practitioners. As attorney Robert Bain explains, "The Patent Office appears to be using this test to more aggressively reject patent applications involving not only business methods but also computer or software-related inventions. The Supreme Court's upcoming decision may provide clarity as to the bounds of the fairly rigid machine-or-transformation test but I suspect the Court may set out a flexible approach that raises more questions than it answers." The case will be one of the first ones heard by newly appointed Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The Court's new term begins on October 5, 2009.