Ronald Bailey Argues that the Supreme Court Should Kill Off Software Patents
The Supreme Court has a chance to give innovation a boost this year by rolling back one of the country's most economically stupid policies. With the case of Alice Corporation v. CLS Bank International, the justices will dive into the issue of whether companies should be able to patent computer software.The Supreme Court has long held that the laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas are not patentable. Reason Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey argues that merely adding "on a computer" or "over the Internet" to otherwise conventional processes like selling merchandise or sliding an icon to unlock a cell phone should not be patentable.
