Lamar Smith: “I want to clarify that Section 18 is designed to address the problem of low-quality business method patents that are…”

“I want to clarify that Section 18 is designed to address the problem of low-quality business method patents that are commonly associated with the Federal Circuit's 1998 State Street decision. Not all business method patents are eligible for review by the patent office under Section 18. Towards that end, Section 18 of the bill specifically exempts ``patents for technological inventions'' from review. Patents for technological inventions are those patents whose novelty turns on a technological innovation over the prior art and are concerned with a technical problem which is solved with a technical solution. The technological innovation exception does not exclude a patent simply because it recites technology. Inventions related to manufacturing and machines that do not simply use known technology to accomplish a novel business process would be excluded from review under Section 18. Section 18 would not cover patents related to the manufacture and distribution of machinery to count, sort, and authenticate currency. It is the intention of Section 18 to not review mechanical inventions related to the manufacture and distribution of machinery to count, sort and authenticate currency like change sorters and machines that scan currency whose novelty turns on a technological innovation over the prior art. These types of patents would not be eligible for review under this program.”