Abstract
In 2010 the Supreme Court decision in Bilski v. Kappos had the potential to completely rewrite patent subject-matter law for business methods and computer-related inventions. Earlier, the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal delivered a decision on the same subject that had the potential to produce similar changes in Europe. Neither decision provided more than incremental change. Our research explains why patent systems on both sides of the Atlantic are unable or unwilling to produce comprehensive subject matter reform for business methods and software.