Law Commons^™

Death Of A Myth: The Patenting Of Internet Business Models After State Street Bank, William D. Wiese

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

The case of State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc., which extended patent protection to a computerized financial method, was regarded by many as a revolutionary expansion of patentable subject matter. The author, however, argues that this notion is overstated. The author explains that the State Street Bank decision will be of little consequence because the business exception was a myth in the first place. The author reasons that courts often cited other bars to patentability when denying business methods protection. Furthermore, the author argues that the recent relaxation of the patentability requirements of computer related …