Biz Method Patent Invalidated

August 24, 2010 - Last June the Supreme Court upheld a business method patent in the specific case of Bilski. The ruling gave hope to holders of business method patents who had feared that all such patents would be found invalid. Their worries are not over. On August 13, the first patent lawsuit to be decided in the wake of the Bilski decision ended decisively in favor of the defendants when a Los Angeles federal district court judge invalidated a patent on a method of online advertising held by Ultramercial LLC. The judge's dismissal of the patent—before claim construction had even taken place--suggests jurists will be giving patents on business methods increased scrutiny, even though the Supreme Court didn't categorically ban such patents. Here's more from Joe Mullin at Law.com.