Supreme Court Tackles Patentability of Scientific Phenomena

Supreme Court justices appeared reluctant Tuesday to decide a key patent law case in a way that would, as one justice put it, establish "monopolies in this country beyond belief" over naturally occurring phenomena.

Justice Stephen Breyer expressed that concern during oral arguments in Laboratory Corp. of America v. Metabolite, a dispute that tests the scope of patentability. Other justices indicated sympathy with the solicitor general's view that the case should be sent back to lower courts for further review.

The case could help resolve a festering debate in patent law over whether a basic scientific phenomenon can be patented -- and, by extension, whether business strategies or other less tangible creations can also be patented.

Details here from Tony Mauro of Legal Times.