From Marketwatch (emphasis added),
Oral arguments in the case, “Bernard L. Bilski and Rand A. Warsaw v. David J. Kappos,” have been highly anticipated. Often referred to as the “Bilski” case, it was originally brought by an inventor who’d tried to win a business-method patent for a means to hedge against changes in commodity prices.
An array of technology giants, including Microsoft Corp. (MSFT 28.63, +0.11, +0.39%), IBM Corp. (IBM 124.03, +0.54, +0.44%) and others, have since taken a keen interest in the case, which could affect portions of their patent portfolios.
Microsoft, IBM and others operate impressive intellectual property operations, securing thousands of patents every year. However, the companies would also prefer to see some limits placed on the scope of what can be patented.
Noted examples of business methods that have won patents for their inventors — and ridicule from others for being overly broad – include a means to train janitors using video displays, and to entice customers to order more fast food. Technology companies generally see the granting of such patents as a threat to genuine innovation.
But a decision in the Bilski case may also cut into technology companies’ ability to patent software, legal experts say.
If the Supreme Court fully affirms a federal appeals court’s prior decision in Bilski, it could help invalidate many of the software patents now held by companies, and strike a blow at the intellectual property portfolios that underpin their business models.
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