Insurance Industry Developments For Winter 2008

Court Decision May Impact Patent-Eligibility of Insurance-Related Innovations
By David G. Luettgen

In a decision that will impact insurance-related patents and patent applications, on October 30, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Court) issued its en banc decision in In re Bilski, No. 2007-1130 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 30, 2008). The Court focused on U.S. Supreme Court precedent and stated that the proper test for patent-eligibility of processes is a machine-or-transformation test. Under the machine-or-transformation test, "[a] claimed process is surely patent-eligible under § 101 if: (1) it is tied to a particular machine or apparatus, or (2) it transforms a particular article into a different state or thing." Bilski, slip op. at 10.