Sterne Kessler Goldstein Fox

Software Industry Conference

Ms. Holoubek spoke on the topic of "Software Patents in a post-Bilski World."  Software and business method patents offer a way for tech companies to recoup their investments and protect the innovative work of their engineers.  However, these types of patents have recently come under attack by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office since the recent Federal Circuit decision In re Bilski.  Essentially, some patent applications are being rejected either because the software methods (a) are not tied to another class (such as an apparatus) or (b) do not transform matter. This presentation will provide a brief introduction to software patents, explain what the Bilski test means for software inventions, and provide some guidelines for the type of information that needs to be included in a software patent application to pass the Bilski test.