Patents play a critical role in business, society and technological
innovation in the contemporary knowledge economy. The question of what
types of inventions may be patented, however, has become highly
contentious in patent offices, law courts, legislatures, scientific
organizations, international trade forums and various business or social
advocacy groups around the world. Under what conditions-if any-may
computer software, DNA-based products, new business techniques, medical
diagnostic methods, or systems operating over the Internet, for example,
be patented? Conflict and confusion in the law surrounding these
questions has created excessive uncertainty amongst technologists,
entrepreneurs, investors, medical practitioners, community groups and
policy makers. This book tackles the problem through a comparative study
of statutory law and case law in the United States and Europe, as well
as international law, concerned with what subject matter is patent
eligible. In particular the book explores whether only technical
inventions should be eligible for patent protection and, if so, whether
those inventions must be physical in order to qualify as "technology" in
patent law.
