Opinion ID: 867144
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Bilski v. Kappos

Text: Bilski concerned claims to processes for participants in energy commodities markets to hedge against the risk of price changes in those commodities. The claims recited the hedging strategy as a series of steps involving transactions between a commodity provider and commodity consumers and between the commodity provider and other market participants “having a counter-risk position” to the consumers in order to balance risk; other claims articulated the hedging strategy as “a simple mathematical formula.” 130 S. Ct. at 3223–24. The claims did not require a computer. Applying Benson, Flook, and Diehr, the Supreme Court held that the claims failed to recite a patent-eligible process because they covered the abstract idea of hedging against risk. “Allowing [the claims] would pre-empt use of this approach in all fields, and would effectively grant a monopoly over an abstract idea.” Id. at 3231. In addition, the Court reiterated Flook’s admonition that such claims cannot be made patent eligible by “limiting an abstract idea to one field of use or adding token postsolution components.” Id. The Court therefore affirmed the rejection of the claims at issue under § 101. 14 CLS BANK INTERNATIONAL v. ALICE CORPORATION