Congress Considers Reformulation of Business Method Patent
Definition   Congress to Choose Between Competing Definitions
One of the more intriguing mechanisms of the America Invents Act
(AIA) is the Transitional Program for Covered Business  Method
(CBM) Patents. To date, these specialized post grant patent
challenges have been pursued in relatively limited numbers as
compared to the more generic Inter Partes Review (IPR)
proceedings. The reason for the disparity between CBM and
IPR filing rates is quite simple - IPR is available for any
technology not just "business method patents." Yet, the CBM
proceeding is far superior to IPR in many strategic respects.
Recognizing the potential of CBM filings to have a greater
impact on the patent litigation landscape, Congress is actively
considering alterations to the existing statutory framework that
would encourage greater use of this AIA mechanism.The first
proposal comes from Senator Schumer (D-NY) as Senate Bill S.866
or the "Patent Quality Improvement Act." Thi