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Reports - News
NEWS
The U.S. Supreme Court Issues Ruling in Business Methods Patents Case The U.S. Supreme Court issued its legal opinion in Bilski v. Kappos on June 28, 2010, and many intellectual property observers are relieved. The claimed invention in Bilski was a method for managing commodity trading risk, raised questions about what is patentable under U.S. law – and in particular where is the line between patentable inventions and abstract ideas that could not be patented. The Supreme Court held that (1) the method at issue was too abstract to be patented, (2) business methods are not categorically unpatentable, and that (3)the CAFC’s “machine or transformation” test, while an important consideration, is not the only test for patent eligibility. Information age companies and patent practitioners should take heart in the decision that their inventions will continue to be protectable under the U.S. patent law.
ANNUAL REPORTS
The U.S. Patent Office Releases Annual Report for FY2009. The number of Patent Applications filed in FY2009 was 485,500, an increase of 2.3% over the previous year. For Patent Applications processed during this period, the average First Office Action was issued at 25.8 months after the filing date, and the average total pendancy time for Applications resolved during this period was 34.6 months. At the end of 2009 there were 6243 Patent Examiners as compared with 4177 Patent Examiners in 2005. The report is available online at USPTO 2009 Annual Report.
WIPO Publishes the World Intellectual Property Indicators for 2009. This report contains information about (1) Patents, (2) Utility Models, (3) Trademarks, and (4) Industrial Designs. The publication draws on data from national and regional patent offices, WIPO, the World Bank and UNESCO. The report is available in English, French, and Spanish. See a copy of the report at World Patent Report (2009).
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