In re Bilski

Citation: In re Bilski, __ F.3d __, 2008 WL 4757110, 88 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1385 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 30, 2008).

In re Bilski was a 2008 en banc decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on the patentability of business methods. It was an appeal from a decision of Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The CAFC ruled that the patent application at issue was not tied to a machine and did not result in a transformation, and, therefore, was excluded from patentability.

It reaffirmed the machine-or-transformation test, according to which a claimed process is patent-eligible under 35 U.S.C. §101 if: (1) it is tied to a particular machine or apparatus, or (2) it [[transformation|transforms] a particular article into a different state or thing.

According to the New York Times, the decision "could reshape the way banks and high-tech firms protect their intellectual property." Moreover, as a result of the decision, many business method patents may now be vulnerable to legal assault. >