Law Commons^™

Opening The Door To Business Methods: State Street Bank & Trust Co. V. Signature Financial Group, Inc. (Note), Colin P. Marks

Faculty Articles

Business method patents require further litigation to answer many lingering questions. The decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc. eliminated the "business method" exception. The business method exception used a skeptical approach asking "why should a patent be granted." The skepticism inherent in this approach may explain why the doctrine was recognized for so many years.

Since the time of Hotel Security Checking Co. v. Lorraine Co., advances in the field of science and the advent of computers have forced courts to constantly …

Analyze This: A Law And Economics Agenda For The Patent System, Rebecca S. Eisenberg

Articles

Legal scholars and economists might enhance the value and impact of their work by making more effective use of each other's knowledge and capabilities. Legal scholars can offer a more nuanced understanding of the legal rules that underlie the patent system and the doctrinal levers that might be manipulated in furtherance of public policy goals. Economists bring to bear a set of analytical and methodological tools that could shed considerable light on what these doctrinal levers are doing and which of them we ought to be manipulating. Together, we have a better chance of asking the right questions and thinking …