from the software-patents? dept
Glyn Moody points us to the news that the IEEE has put out a
press release celebrating the Bilski ruling. This is reasonably
upsetting many who find software patents abhorrent to those who believe in technological progress. The IEEE had
been part of an amicus filing, where it asked the court for clarity, so it's a little surprising to celebrate this ruling, which provided no clarity at all. Instead, the IEEE claims it's happy that "The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Monday that a new method of doing business can be patented, and that the ability to patent software should not be limited." Except the overall ruling was 9-0, not 5-4 (though, the majority binding part of the ruling was 5-4), and the majority ruling doesn't actually make it clear that the ability to patent software should not be limited. In fact, it skips over that question pretty much entirely. So it's not clear what the IEEE is celebrating other than that the court didn't actually address software patents.
Filed Under: bilski, patents, software
Companies: ieee
