The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hand down sweeping limitations on technology and business patents on Monday, despite rejecting a method for hedging against risk in energy prices. In the long-awaited Bilski v. Kappos decision, the High Court upheld a federal appeals court ruling that Bernard Bilski and Rand Warsaw’s proposed patent was too abstract to be patentable. The court’s majority opinion, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, refused to categorically shut down business method patents which cover intangible processes. Finnegan partner J. Michael Jakes who represented Bilski and Warsaw before the Supreme Court, said he’s disappointed in the rejection of his clients’ patent. The decision, however, also removed a barrier that “was unnecessarily foreclosing inventions in some areas,” said Jakes.
