Intellectual property update: viability of business method and financial method patents after the Supreme Court's Bilski decision

Whether innovations in the financial services sector are within scope of patentable subject matter has been the center of debate since the 1998 State Street Bank decision. After the Federal Circuit revisited the viability of these "business method patents" in In re Bilski in 2009, reigniting the debate over patent eligible subject matter, the Supreme Court granted certiorari and recently issued its decision. This column analyzes the Supreme Court's ruling and assesses whether its decision settles the issue about business method patents or instead prolongs it by leaving key questions unanswered. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]