The Samuelson Clinic filed an amicus brief today asking a federal court to set serious limits on patents that threaten human thought, consumer welfare, and access to information. The brief was filed in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals case of In re Bilski on behalf of three consumer groups, Consumers Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Public Knowledge.
In the Bilski case, the Federal Circuit will revisit the proper standard for when patents should be allowed on new and inventive processes. The Clinic’s brief highlights the harm to consumers and the public interest when patents cover everyday aspects of human behavior and information practices and proposes a framework to weed out inappropriate patent applications from the system.