Abstract Made Concrete: Software Reverse Engineering – Mike McLean of UBM TechInsights Comments on the Bilski Case

By _SemiSerious

July 1, 2010

For over a decade the fundamental intellectual property rights of an innovation implemented in software have been held ransom as the appeals on the case, “Bilski et al. v. Kappos…” worked their way through the system to the Supreme Court.  Prior to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, software and process patents were on very shaky ground due to the assertion by a lower court that a claimed process is only patent-eligible if it is tied to a particular machine or apparatus, or it transforms a particular article into a different state or thing.

The Supreme Court’s June 28th, 2010, decision on the Bilski case was an affirmation of the viability of patent protection for innovation implemented in software.  However, uncertainty still exists as a clear test for patentable subject matter was not established.  The Bilski patent was found to claim an abstract idea and as such was determined not to be patentable.  Demonstrating the tangible nature of a patented innovation will likely be a key to successfully defending patent rights in the software space.

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