Initial thoughts on Bilski  Image by submit to reddit (8 votes)
The Supreme Court finally issued a decision in the Bilski case
today [PDF]. For those troubled by the problems surrounding
software patents, the opinion will be disappointing, because it
does not resolve those problems. But it would be a mistake to
view the opinion as a victory for the proponents of expanding
software patents. In fact, there are some aspects of the opinion
that auger well for the future.  To be sure, the Court did not
establish a definite limitation on software patents. From
listening to the oral argument of the case, I got the impression
that the Court understood that its decision would have an impact
on software patents, and it seemed possible that it would
address the issue. It's disappointing that it didn't do so.  But
the Court's silence shouldn't be interpreted too broadly. The
issue before the court concerned a business method patent,
rather than a software patent. The Court's traditional
jurisprudence calls for deciding