The patent process in the US is undergoing signification changes and among these changes is whether business methods are actually eligible to be patented. In an era where the ability to share information through collaborating and networking has grown exponentially and is changing daily, this is a subject worth keeping an eye on.
In "Why Technologists Want Fewer Patents" (Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal, June 15, 2009) Gordon Crovitz wrote:
"Thomas Jefferson, the nation's inventor-president, would support patent reform in a era when new information technologies build on themselves. An idea, he observed, is a rare thing whose value increases as it's shared. 'No one possesses the less because everyone possess the whole of it,' he wrote. 'He who receives an idea from me receives it without lessening me, as he who lights his candle at mine receives light without darkening me.'"
Words to live by even today...stay tuned for more updates.
Related articles:
BusinessWeek: Supreme Court to Review 'Business Method' Patents
Portfolio: The End of Business Process Patents
ArticleBase: Software and Business Process Patents in the US: Not so Eligible
IP Watch: US Supreme Court to Rule on Business Method Patents