We are still waiting for a decision on Bilski, but that does not mean we cannot discuss what might happen. Scott Alter and Bill Coats did a great job of explaining how Bilski came about. We also learned about the tone of the oral argument and the concerns the patent law community has about Bilski. For instance, the justices could have nine separate tests in mind to determine patentability, which could result in no majority opinion being reached. The liberal bloc of the Court appeared — in oral arguments — to disapprove of patenting business methods. And what are business methods? As Scott Alter said, “I have no clue.”
The opinion should be out by the end of June, but the Court has already waited over 200 days to issue an opinion. So, really, we don’t know when the opinion will come out or what it will be, but the presenters at least expressed their opinion that, based on the oral argument transcript, it does not look good for business method patentability.
