In This Issue:

*U.S. SUPREME COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS WHETHER SOFTWARE AND BUSINESS METHOD ARE PATENTABLE

*BOSE MAKES WAVES IN TRADEMARK FRAUD

*TRADEMARKS AND THE FRENCH LANGUAGE ISSUE IN QUEBEC

*THE INTERNET HAS BEEN INTERNATIONALIZED

*SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

U.S. SUPREME COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS WHETHER SOFTWARE AND BUSINESS METHOD ARE PATENTABLE by Geoffrey K. White and Shawn K. Leppo

The Federal Circuit's October 2008 decision, In re Bilski, has created much concern whether software and business methods are still patentable. That concern may turn out to be unwarranted, as the U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in the case.

In Bilski – a case that arose out of the U.S. Patent Office's rejection of a patent application directed to a method of hedging risks in commodities trading – the Federal Circuit examined "what test or set of criteria governs the determination as to whether a claim to a process is patentable under [35 U.S.C.] § 101 or, conversely, is drawn to unpatentable subject matter because it claims only a fundamental principle."