A three-wheeled suitcase might be novel, and it might be useful, but once someone
comes up with the idea of a wheeled suitcase, the number of wheels seems to be a minor detail??”something
obvious to someone in the business of designing suitcases.
Since 1981, software has been patentable in the United States, if the software is part of a patentable device.
In general, software is not patentable because ???scientific truths??? and the ???mathematical expressions??? of scientific
truths are not patentable. The 1981 case involved a patent for a rubber curing device which incorporated a computer
for control. Since software was part of a patentable rubber molding device, the software was patentable.
Mathematical algorithms remain unpatentable, so a new sorting algorithm could not be protected by
a patent (It could be protected as a trade secret, of course.). Since 1981, software has been patentable if the
software is part of an invention of a new machine or process. A key to making the distinction has been whether
the software manipulates measurements obtained from real-world sensors. A program controlling a toaster, or
a robotic warehouse, for example, would likely be patentable.
Patents granted to software have not been as protective as patents granted to more traditional inventions.
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