Bilski overview
"Bilski" an ongoing set of patent cases that will change the patentability of software in the USA. The Bilski patent itself is a business method patent, not a software patent.
Origins
The USPTO rejected Bilski's patent. Bilski appealed to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, but was rejected again. Bilksi took the USPTO to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), again demanding that his patent be granted, again rejected (in re Bilski). So Bilski asked the US Supreme Court to review the CAFC's decision, and they agreed. This is the pending case Bilski v. Kappos.
Why is it important?
The 2008 ruling of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) was broad enough to reject Bilksi's patent and a certain category of software patents.
The Supreme Court agreed to review the CAFC's ruling (as Bilski v. Kappos), and the judges raised the issue of software during the hearing.
The Supreme Court's ruling could greatly change the patentability of software patents, business method patents, and the middle ground of e-commerce patents.
Related pages on ESP Wiki
The related pages on this wiki are:
- Bilski v. Kappos (2009, USA) - the ongoing case at the US Supreme Court
- In re Bilski - the 2008 case at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC)
- Machine-or-transformation - the test put in place by the CAFC in 2008
- Bilski 3 - brainstorming for the future
- Bilski brainstorming - a page previously used while drafting FSF's brief to the Supreme Court
- Case law in the USA
External links
- ESP's About Bilski
- AwakenIP's list of all official documents, for both the CAFC and the Supreme Court cases