Biomedical patents: the quest for balance

The trend of frequent challenges to patent eligibility started with the US Supreme Court’s decision in Bilski v Kappos in 2010. Noting that “business method patents were rarely issued until modern times”, that “some business method patents raise special problems in terms of vagueness and suspect validity”, and that “[i]f a high enough bar is not set when considering [business method patents], patent examiners and courts could be flooded with claims that would put a chill on creative endeavour and dynamic change”, the court in Bilski endeavoured to set the “high enough bar” that it deemed necessary to preserve the stated purpose of the Patent Act in the business method context.