On June 28th, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a decision in one of the most anticipated patent cases in recent years in Bilski v. Kappos, U.S., No. 08-964. In a narrow 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court confirmed that business methods are not categorically excluded from patent protection, thus preserving the viability of business method patents, at least for the near future.   Unfortunately, the Court avoided providing any specific guidance to practitioners, examiners or the courts as to how to analyze whether (and which) business method inventions are patentable. However, the Court did hold that the "machine-or-transformation" test, recently adopted by the Federal Circuit (the court to which all patent cases are appealed), is not the sole test for patent eligibility under Section 101 of the Patent Laws. Click here to read the full article.