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  3. Over the past decade, thousands of patents have been granted for what are called business methods. Amazon.com received one for i

Over the past decade, thousands of patents have been granted for what are called business methods. Amazon.com received one for i

admin2019-06-11  27
问题    Over the past decade, thousands of patents have been granted for what are called business methods. Amazon.com received one for its "one-click" online payment system. Merrill Lynch got legal protection for an asset allocation strategy. One inventor patented a technique for lifting a box.
   Now the nation’ s top patent court appears completely ready to scale back on business-method patents, which have been controversial ever since they were first authorized 10 years ago. In a move that has intellectual-property lawyers abuzz, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said it would use a particular case to conduct a broad review of business-method patents. In re Bilski, as the case is known, is "a very big deal," says Dennis D. Crouch of the University of Missouri School of law. It "has the potential to eliminate an entire class of patents."
   Curbs on business-method claims would be a dramatic about-face, because it was the Federal Circuit itself that introduced such patents with its 1998 decision in the so-called State Street Bank case, approving a patent on a way of pooling mutual-fund assets. That ruling produced an explosion in business-method patent filings, initially by emerging internet companies trying to stake out exclusive rights to specific types of online transactions. Later, move established companies raced to add such patents to their files, if only as a defensive move against rivals that might beat them to the punch. In 2005, IBM noted in a court filing that it had been issued more than 300 business-method patents, despite the fact that it questioned the legal basis for granting them. Similarly, some Wall Street investment films armed themselves with patents for financial products, even as they took positions in court cases opposing the practice.
   The Bilski case involves a claimed patent on a method for hedging risk in the energy market. The Federal Circuit issued an unusual order stating that the case would be heard by all 12 of the court’ s judges, rather than a typical panel of three, and that one issue it wants to evaluate is whether it should "reconsider" its State Street Bank ruling.
   The Federal Circuit’ s action comes in the wake of a series of recent decisions by the supreme Court that has narrowed the scope of protections for patent holders. Last April, for example, the justices signaled that too many patents were being upheld for "inventions" that are obvious. The judges on the Federal Circuit are "reacting to the anti-patent trend at the Supreme Court," says Harold C. Wegner, a patent attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School.
Which of the following is true of the Bilski case?
选项 A、Its ruling complies with the court decisions.
B、It involves a very big business transaction.
C、It has been dismissed by the Federal Circuit.
D、It may change the legal practices in the U.S..
答案D
解析 推断题。根据关键词Bilski case并结合出题顺序定位至第二段。第二段最后提到it has the potential to eliminate an entire class of patents，D项是对此句的同义改写，may对应has the poten tial，change对应eliminate。因此，D项“它可能会改变美国已有的法律惯例”为正确答案。A项“对 它的裁决符合法庭决议”、C项“它已经被联邦巡回法庭驳回”反向干扰，文中已暗示比尔斯基案 的判决可能成为商业方法专利案件的转折点，因此它不会被驳回，而且它的判决与以往案例不 同。B项“它涉及一项非常大的商业交易”，第二段末句提到Bilski case是a very big deal意思是 “Bilski case非常重要的事”，而非“大的交易”，因此B项错误。
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