About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

21 IDEA 75 (1980)
Parker v. Flook: A Formula to Cause Alarm

handle is hein.journals/idea21 and id is 89 raw text is: PARKER v. FLOOK: A Formula to Cause Alarm STEFAN BAUER-MENGELBERG* On three occasions1 the United States Supreme Court has had to decide whether a patent should issue on a computer program. All three of the patents were denied. In each of these cases the Court went to considerable lengths to emphasize that it was deciding, not the general question whether computer programs fall into the class of patentable subject matter,2 *Stefan Bauer-Mengelberg, who holds the degree of J.D. from New York University, is Visiting Professor at the School of Advanced Technology, State University of New York at Binghamton. He has taught mathematics and philosophy at New York University, Hunter College, the New School for Social Research, and Columbia University. The author thanks Seymour E. Hollander, Esq., of Western Electric, Adjunct Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law, and Michael N. Meller, Esq., Managing Editor of the APLA Quarterly Journal, for their encouragement and assistance. Responsibility for the opinions expressed herein is, of course, solely the author's. 1 Gottschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 175 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 673 (1972); we shall henceforth refer to this case as Benson. Dann v. Johnston, 425 U.S. 219, 189 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 257 (1976). Parker v. Flook, 437 U.S. 584, 198 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 193 (1978); we shall henceforth refer to this case as Flook. 2 This class is sometimes referred to as the class of statutory subject matter, for patent rights are created entirely by statute, 35 U.S.C., enacted by Congress pursuant to the authority granted by Art. I, Sec. 8 (clause 8) of the U.S. Constitution. 35 U.S.C. §101 delimits the domain of patentable subject matter to new and useful processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter, and new and useful im- provements thereof. Since computer programs are not mentioned, the question of their patentability reduces, initially, to whether they can be fitted under any of these rubrics. Process, perhaps the most likely candidate (at least for those programs that are generally termed software), is defined in 35 U.S.C. §100(b) as follows: The term process means process, art or method, and includes a new use of a known process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or material.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most