In re Bilski
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
545 F.3d 943 (2008)
Relevant factsFree
Bilski and a colleague (plaintiffs) sought a patent on a method of hedging risk in commodities trading. The patent examiner rejected the application as directed to a purely abstract, non-technological idea, and the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences affirmed the rejection — though on the different ground that the claims failed to transform anything and produced no "useful, concrete, and tangible result." Bilski appealed.
IssueFree
Whether, under 35 U.S.C. § 101, a claimed process is patent-eligible if it is tied to a particular machine or apparatus, or transforms a particular article into a different state or thing.