"Technological Arts" Test is Improper Subject Matter Requirement for Business Method Patents

By Griff Griffin, Daniel J. Warren, Bill Silverio and Elizabeth A. Lester

Originally published October 24, 2005

In 1980, the Supreme Court of the United States held that "anything under the sun made by man" is patentable.¹ Later decisions by other courts also affirmed the patentability of business method claims.² These decisions opened the floodgates of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to applications for business method patents. In an effort to limit the number of business method patents allowed, the USPTO began rejecting business method claims using a "technological arts" test. This test essentially limited the allowance of business method claims to those using computers or other electronic processing devices.